


Not Magical Students in "Dove in Wonderland"

by IZWritings



Series: Not Magical Students [2]
Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27424384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IZWritings/pseuds/IZWritings
Summary: "Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”"How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.“You must be,” said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”-Alice in Wonderland by Lewis CarolDove is woken up in the middle of the night by someone knocking on the door. She finds Ace...with a collar around his neck?! Now, she has to help her new friend get back in good graces with the Heartslabyul Dorm Perfect, Riddle Rosehearts. But it will prove more difficult to get on the Crimson Tyrant's side...SPOILERS IN LATER CHAPTERS
Series: Not Magical Students [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018999
Kudos: 8





	1. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Author's Note:**

> I think the set course for most of these chapters are going to be "Seven girls for Seven dorms".
> 
> Twisted Wonderland, it's main story, and characters do not belong to me; they belong to Yana Toboso, Aniplex, and Walt Disney Japan.  
> All original characters, though loosely based on Disney characters, belong to me.  
> Translation credit goes to Shell-BB, Ryota's Musings and Team Avalon's Twisted Wonderland series:  
> Shell_BB's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeyi0wrgNQPmjDz3YUPy4fQ  
> Team Avalon's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNjxo4Mg5MNexT5ppQeFrGw  
> Ryota's Musings Blog: https://kanadesmusingsblog.wordpress.com/

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall.  
Who is the most curious of them all?

_A garden with large rose bushes, filled with beautiful white roses. Cards with faces have buckets of red paint and paint the roses over and over._   
**Paint...the roses red?**  
 _A girl with blonde hair and a blue dress walks up to them._  
 _“Why do you have to paint the white roses red?” she asks._  
 _“Why you ask? The truth is we made a mistake and grew white ones.” the Two of Clovers answers._  
 _“The Queen loves red. If she sees white, she’ll have our heads!” the Ace of Club says._  
 _“Therefore, we’re painting the roses red.” the Three of Clovers says._  
 **Where am I?**

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Dove blinks open her eyes in the darkness. After adjusting her eyes and sitting up, she looks up at the clock. It was one thirty-seven, only an hour after they got back. Instead of sleeping in the main room, they decided to sleep in individual rooms and, since there were more than seven rooms, they all had their own room. Hopefully, they can figure out a situation where they can decorate and clean up their spaces.

“That was a really strange dream…” she whispers to herself. Although it was strange, she needed to go back to sleep and rest up for their first day at the academy. That’s right; they’re students now...non-magical students, but still. She’s about to lay down when she hears someone knocking on her door. It opens, and it’s Grim, looking tired.

“Hey, you,” he says, still groggy. “Sounds like we have a late night visitor.”

“Huh?” Another set of knocks, this time coming from the front door.

“Is it those ghosts again? They don’t know when to quit.” Grim grumbles.

“Well, we should still check it out.” she says before getting up from the bed. She still has her handyman jumpsuit on since she doesn’t have pajamas. The two leave her room and go downstairs to the foyer. Who would come over this late? The knocks come again as they reach the front door. “Hello. Who is it?” she asks, lowering her voice to not wake the others.

“...it’s me, Ace. Let me in.” Ace? What is he doing here? Granted, she did want to see him again, but during normal hours. Giving Grim a confused look, she opens the door.

“Ace? What are you doing here this la-” She gasps, interrupting herself. There was Ace standing there, looking pissed and had a heart-shaped collar around his neck.

“I’m never going back to Heartslabyul,” he says. “Starting today, I’m joining your dorm.”

“That’s the same collar that red-haired upperclassmen put on me during the entrance ceremony.” Grim exclaimed.

“Why do you have that on?” Dove asks, taking him inside.

“I ate a tart.” he answers, crossing his arms.

“...You ate a tart? That’s it?” she questions him, completely confused.

“Yeah, that’s it.” They sit down in the lounge on the makeshift couch. “I was hungry when I got back to the dorm, so I checked the fridge, and there were tarts chilling inside. Three whole tarts! So...I ate a piece, thinking no one was going to notice. Suddenly, Perfect Riddle came in, told me it was wrong to steal stuff from him, and put this collar on me!” Dove and Grim both look at him, unimpressed.

“While I think your dorm leader went a little overboard, you still shouldn’t have stolen food that clearly wasn’t yours.” Dove says. Ace rolls his eyes.

“Isn't sealing my magic for stealing a bit of tart going too far?” he asks. "For a wizard, it's like having your arms and legs chained up." Dove thinks for a second. Why would there be three whole tarts, enough for more...than one person…

“Ace, I think those tarts were made for a party. Maybe a birthday party. It would explain why he was so mad and put that collar on you.” she speculates. Ace groans, sinking further into the couch.

“I totally thought you would agree that he was being tyrannical, Dove.” he says. She puffs her cheeks in annoyance.

“You’re right that he overreacted, but eating his tart was still bad.” she explains. “You need to go back in the morning and apologize.” Ace glares at her before sighing, shaking his head.

“Fine. Whatever. I just have to apologize, right?” He looks back up at her. “This is your idea, Dove, so you have to come with me.” She nods.

“Okay. I am curious about what your dorm looks like. Right, Grim?” She turns to the creature, only to see him fast asleep. She shouldn’t be surprised. “Well, we’ll discuss this with the others tomorrow.”

“Where should I sleep for tonight?” he asks. Dove thinks about it, tilting her head up with her index finger tapping her chin.

“We haven’t gotten the chance to clean the other rooms. If you want, we can clean one of the rooms for you to sleep in.” she suggests.

“I am not cleaning,” he says, frowning. What a brat. She’s about to suggest something else when she notices that he is grinning at her now, sitting up straighter on the couch. “Dove~ Let me stay in your room. I’m slim, so I won’t take a lot of space. 'Kay?” She blinks at him.

“You don’t mind?” she asks, getting a slightly confused look from him.

“No. Why? You stingy about sharing a bed?” he asks. Curious; it doesn’t seem to faze him that he might share a bed with a girl...unless he doesn’t know. It was always weird that no one addressed that. Does no one know? How could they not? Dove shrugs; she’ll have to figure that out later and they do have a guest.

“I don’t mind.” she says. She leans over to Grim and pokes his cheek, waking him up.

“Nyaaa...am I a great magician yet?” he says, yawning.

“No, but we are going to bed,” she says. He grumbles before going back to sleep. She sighs, picking up the sleeping monster and turns to Ace. “The rooms are upstairs.” They get up from the couch and head upstairs. As they go up the stairs, Ace is looking around the makeshift dorm. Although they only got their rooms slightly cleaned up, everywhere else was still a mess. She didn’t expect that they would have a visitor so soon and was a little embarrassed at the mess. They reach up to the rooms and they stop by her open door. “Here’s my room. I’m going to put Grim in his room, so make yourself at home.” He nods as she goes down the hall to Grim’s room. Despite him being so small, he insisted on getting his own room. She takes him inside the room and puts him on the bed. He instantly curls up on the large bed, purring in his sleep. He was so cute!

After leaving the room and closing the door behind her, she goes back to her room and finds Ace already asleep in the bed, lying on his side. Despite the collar on him, he looks comfortable. She goes around the bed and lies on the opposite side of the bed, lying back-to-back with him. She hasn’t slept with another person since she was very little and slept with her parents when she had nightmares. She closes her eyes, sleep overtaking her quickly.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The loud noise wakes Dove up. The room is bathed in the morning sunlight. The light peeking through the window. At least it was morning this time. Dove yawns before getting up to check on the noise...at least, she tried to get up. Something was wrapped around her waist and, looking down, she sees that it’s an arm. More specifically, a still sleeping Ace's arm. She tries to move his arm from her, but he just tightens his grip. Wonder if he knows that he’s a cuddler when he sleeps.

Bang! Bang!

Ace groans, finally releasing his arm around her to cover his face. “Who’s pounding at the door this early?” he grumbles. Now that she is free, she gets up from the bed and heads out the door. As she walks in the hallway, the others are waking up.

“Who the hell is pounding at the door?” Yasmina grumbles, annoyed.

“It’s so loud that I feel the walls vibrating.” Alex comments. Dove goes down the hall and down the stairs to the front door.

“One minute!” she calls out. She opens the door, finding Deuce standing there. “Deuce?”

“Sorry to bother you this early, but did Ace come here last night?” Deuce asks. Before she can answer, she hears more footsteps behind her and everyone has come downstairs, including Ace.

“What’s going o-” Ace stops in his tracks when he sees the other boy. “Uh...Deuce.” Dove moves out of the way to join the others as Deuce and Ace stand in front of each other.

“I heard what happened from the other residents,” Deuce says. “You got collared after you stole the dorm leader’s tart. You are a complete idiot.”

“Shut up! I don’t wanna hear that from you!” Ace defends himself. “By the way, was he still mad?” As the two talk, Stell brings their little group in a circle.

“Why was Ace sleeping here last night?” she asks. All eyes look directly to Dove. Of course, they would look at her.

“Well, Ace came in last night after his dorm leader put that collar on him. All because he ate a tart without permission.” she explains, making the other girls confused. Saying it out loud probably didn’t help and even in this magical setting, it was weird.

“So, you let him in without telling any of us?” Amelia asked.

“...yes.” Dove answers.

“...Where did he sleep?” Stell asks. She can tell her cheeks were burning and looked to the floor. She couldn’t tell them that he slept in her room; they already teased her last night about it. Fortunately, they get interrupted by Deuce and Ace.

“By the way,” Deuce says, pulling in a box. “This was left out here for you.” It was a big box, dark purple embroidered with gold and black ribbon. There’s a note on top, white with black lining and a raven stamp. Stell opens the note.

_Dear Special Students,_   
_You went through so much yesterday, so your generous Headmaster (me) decided to bring you everything you need for your first day at Night Raven College!_   
_Sincerely,_   
_Headmaster Crowley_

“How kind of him.” Dolphina says, smiling.

“When isn’t he?” Yasmina comments. They open the box and, with a puff of magic (looks more like glitter), they find folded-up uniforms and some school supplies like pens and notebooks.

“Oh wow!” Dove exclaims. It was going to be difficult to figure out how they were going to afford their stuff, but this was a lot easier.

“You guys get a full gift set? I’m a little jealous.” Ace comments. The girls take their dorm outfits out. It was the same as the uniforms Deuce and Ace are wearing, but they had light purple vests and arm bands. They each had pens as well with a light purple jewel just like Grim; it was probably just for decoration since they can’t use magic.

“Since we have our items,” Stell speaks up, looking to Ace and Deuce. “Can you give us a few minutes to get ready?” They nod, and the girls go upstairs to get ready.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

A few minutes later, they all walk out of the Ramshackle Dorm and walk down Main Street. Dove had to admit that she was happy to wear anything else but the cloak or the handyman jumpsuit. She is used to wearing a skirt for school, but it wasn’t so different wearing pants. At least they knew where they were going and what classes they’re taking, thanks to the Headmaster. Grim is proudly walking through crowds.

“Hey hey! Outta my way~ The Great Grim is making his way as a student of Night Raven College! Look at my collar.” He turns back to Ace, smirking. “Unlike the lame thing around your neck, mine is very stylish.” Ace narrows his eyes. “Not only that, you can’t use magic.” Grim laughs. “You’d make a really good janitor today!” Ace angrily grumbles.

“I’ll remember this for when I get my magic back.” he says.

“The headmaster just told us yesterday to not make another scene…” Deuce says.

“Speaking of magic, how are you going to use it in class?” Dove points out. Ace scratches the back of his head awkwardly.

“...I need to apologize to the Dorm Leader as soon as possible.” he practically whispers, but she can tell what he says.

“There’s still some time before classes start,” Dove says, turning to the others. “I already promised Ace that I’m going with him.”

“Okay. We can go and check out the college.” Stell says. Grim stands next to Dove.

“I’m going too. I’m curious about the other dorms.” he says. “I want to be amused by Ace’s "apology".”

“This isn’t a show!” Ace exclaims, storming off to the mirror chambers. Dove, Deuce and Grim run after him.

“Gotta run!” Dove yells back to the amused group. At least they’re having fun with this. They run all the way to the Hall of Mirrors, catching up with Ace. They stand in front of the Heartslabyul mirror and, the closer she got, it was actually more intricate than she first thought. It had the sigil at the top of the frame and it was surrounded by cards and roses. Just like the main mirror, it lights up and they get transported elsewhere.

It was beautiful. The dorm was huge, red and white with hearts everywhere. There was a hedge maze and heart-shaped red rose bushes. The whole place felt like royalty lived here.

“This is gorgeous!” Grim exclaims, amazed at the sight. “It couldn’t be any more different from ours!”

“It is gorgeous. We’re still a work in progress with our dorm.” she says, although still distracted by the roses. She turns to Deuce and Ace. “You guys have a beautiful dorm.” she comments.

“Thank you.” Deuce says, smiling. Dove turns back to the roses when she spots something. Behind the rose bushes is the entrance to the maze. They should focus on finding the dorm leader, but...She goes past the rose bushes and enters the maze.

“Dove!” She heard Ace call out, but she was already walking through it. It was a small part of her personality; she was always a curious girl, especially when she was younger. It got her into trouble sometimes, but she always wants to see and learn new things. As she continues walking, she hears someone grumbling and a metal ding. She finds a clearing and sees someone on a ladder.

“Crap, crap. I’ve gotta get these roses painted.” he mumbles. He seemed very keen on some of the rose bushes, some of them red and some of them white. This is very similar to her dream.

“Um...excuse me?” she says, trying not to startle him. He turns to her, humming in question.

“Oh, watch out. Any paint splatters and my head is gone.” he says, smiling. Confused, she looks down and sees a red paint can near her feet. She moves it away from her as the others catch up with her. The boy comes down the ladder. Getting a closer look at him, he has orange hair and leaf green eyes. He also has a red diamond on his right cheek. “..Hm? Do you all need something?” he asks, his voice light and cheery.

“What are you doing with all this paint?” Dove asks.

“As you can see, I’m painting the roses red.” he answers. It is exactly like the dream she had! Deuce and Ace are shocked.

“Why would you..?” Deuce questions. The other boy giggles.

“Hmm, your fresh reactions are so cute!” he says. He takes a closer look at them. “Now that I take a good look at you, you’re the freshmen that busted the ten million madol chandelier yesterday~”

“We’re gonna hear about the chandelier until the day we graduate…” Ace mumbles.

“And you’re the one who added on more punishment by stealing the dorm leader’s tart last night,” he says. Ace looks down, embarrassed. “I feel so lucky getting to meet the notorious newcomers first thing in the morning. Hey, hey, hey! Let’s take a selfie!” He pulls out something that looks like a smartphone and pulls them altogether. “Yay!” he cheers. A flash fills her vision and he takes the picture. He lets them go and taps on the screen. “Can I put this on Magicam? Tell me your names so I can put you in the tags.” he says.

“I’m Deuce Spade.” Deuce answers.

“Ace.” Ace says.

“Grim and my henchman!” Grim answers, grinning. Dove puffs out her cheeks.

“I’m not his henchman,” she says. “My name is Dove Carrolyn.” The other smiles and a ding is heard from his phone.

“Upload finished!” he cheerily says. “Ah. I’m your senior, third year Cater Diamond. Call me Cater. Cay is fine, too. Nice to meetcha~”

“Nice to meet you too,” Dove says, bowing respectfully. Cater looks at her closely.

“Ah. You’re one of the students from the Ramshackle Dorm I heard about. Good on you, living in a place like that! It’s super dark in there and you can’t get any good pictures for Magicam in there. You have my sympathy.” he says, still smiling.

“Thank you...I think?” she responds. He was so cheerful and upbeat, different from how she met the others. Grim leans over to Dove.

“This guy is really running his mouth.” he whispers to her.

“Behave, Grim.” she says, patting his head. Grim shakes it off, meowing. As if on a flip, Cater suddenly looks panicked.

“Ah, I don’t have any time for small talk! The party is in two days. I don’t wanna lose my head for being late.” he says. “Hey, you guys, will you help with painting the roses?” he asks them.

“But why are you doing something so weird?” Ace asks.

“Red roses at a party are the most photogenic, you know.” he answers. “I’ve also got to change the flamingos’ colors for the croquet match, so I’m busy with all this work.”

“You’re changing flamingos’ colors?!” Grim exclaims, shocked. “Your chores are so weird.” Everything in this dorm was...odd.

“So the tart that Ace ate was going to be used for the dorm leader’s birthday party.” Deuce deduces. “That’s why he was so mad…”

“Nope. That’s not it.” Cater corrects him.

“It’s not?!” Ace exclaims. “Then who’s birthday is it?”

“It’s not anyone’s birthday.” the older boy answers. “The day after tomorrow is our dorm's traditional “Unbirthday Party”. The dorm leader choses a random day that isn’t anyone’s birthday and we have a tea party.” Unbirthday party? Painting the roses red? Flamingos? This place just gets more and more curious. “All you have to do now is make the roses red! Deuce, Grim, you two can do it with magic. Ace, Dove, since you can’t use magic here’s some paint.” He picks up two paint brushes and gives them to the two.

“We can change the color with magic..?” Deuce asks.

“I’ve never done anything like that.” Grim says.

“Don’t worry. I’ll show you. We better hurry if we don’t wanna lose our heads to the dorm leader~” he says. He takes them to a bush that has mostly all white roses. “Now, watch me.” He pulls out his pen and, with a little twirl, magic shoots out from it and lands on a white rose, turning it red. Dove was amazed; she should already know that magic can do anything, but it was still a sight to see.

“Whoa. How did you do that?” Grim asks.

“It’s simple: think about changing the roses red. Not pink, not green, but red.” he answers. He makes it sound so simple, but maybe it is that simple for people who use magic. While they use their magic, she dips the paint brush into the red paint and climbs up a ladder.

“Come on, Ace.” she says to the other. He grumbles, but does the same and they start painting the roses.

“This would be so much easier if I had my magic…” Ace complains.

“Complaining won’t get that collar off of you, Ace.” Dove points out. “You should be thinking about how you’re going to apologize-”

“Apologize to the dorm leader. I know, I know.” he huffs. “Were you always this much of a goody-two-shoes?”

“It’s more about being proper than anything else. I learned that from my aunt.” she responds.

“You’re making it sound like they’re rules.”

“Not rules. They’re more like guidelines: they are there to help you, but you don’t need to follow them to a T.” she explains, going to paint another rose red. “I agree that if you do something wrong, you should apologize. In return, the dorm leader will be grateful and everything will be alright.”

“...You really think so?” He says it so softly that she almost didn’t hear him. When she turns to him, he’s painting a rose as well, but has a worried look on his face. He acts stubborn (and he is), but there is this awareness that he is kind. He was the one who helped her when they were in the mines and she thought he was a selfish jerk before. Now...he’s still here and doing this task. He looks up at her, only to look extremely confused. “Hmm? What’s wrong?” she asks.

“You’re smiling weird.” he says.

“I am?” she asks. She was always told that she could never hold in what she was thinking, including her expressions. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” he says, going back to the roses. She swears that she saw him blushing. After they were done with the roses, they walked down the ladder to see how the others were doing. While most of the roses were red, there were some roses in different colors and some on fire. Deuce and Grim look embarrassed.

“You guys are really more terrible at this than I could’ve imagined.” Cater says, shaking his head but his tone is still light. He fixes up the roses as Ace and Dove walk up to the group.

“Why are you painting the roses?” Dove asks. “They’re pretty as they are.”

“It’s our tradition. Roses are red for the Unbirthday Party and we use flamingos in seven different colors for croquet with hedgehogs as the balls.” Cater explains. “But, y’know, the Spring Garden Concert of the Flowers uses white roses. That’s an important point, too.”

“Those are all strange rules.” Grim comments.

“They say these rules were all decided by the Queen of Hearts from the Great Seven. Riddle is particularly passionate about following the rules even compared to other strict dorm leaders. I won’t deny he goes too far sometimes, though…” He rubs the back of his neck, seemingly embarrassed. So, the dorm leader is extreme in his methods. It seems to be normal, but no one is happy about it…

“That’s right. I don’t have time for this.” Ace speaks up. “I need to speak to the Dorm leader. Is he inside?”

“Hm? I think there’s still time before he leaves…” Cater looks him over. “By the way, Ace the tart thief, did you bring a tart of apology?”

“No. I came here first, so I’m empty handed.” Ace says.

“Ooh, no. Is that so?” He shakes his head. “Since you’re going against Laws of the Queen of Hearts, Number Fifty-Three: “One must always return what they stole”, I can’t let you in the dorm.”

“The hell kind of rule is that?!” Ace exclaims.

“I’ll lose my head too if I knowingly let you in while you’re not obeying the rules. I feel bad, but you need to leave before Riddle notices,” he says, looking regretful. He turns Ace around to the entrance to the maze and pushes him towards it. “Now, go get a tart and try again.” Saying the last part, he pushes out Ace from the rose maze, making the boy land on the other side of the hedge. He didn’t have to do that, but that is one way to gently kick someone out. Deuce, Grim and Dove go out to find Ace. Dove turns back to Cater.

“Goodbye, Cater.” she says as they run out. Despite everything, it would be rude not to say goodbye.

“Bye-bye~” he replies, waving them off.

Once they reach outside the maze, they find Ace getting himself up from the ground, covered in leaves and twigs. “Are you okay?” Dove asks, looking him over and picking some of the twigs off of him.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” he says, shaking it off. “What’s with that guy? Who gets turned away because of a tart? He just wanted us to paint the damn roses!”

“He’s a shrewd one.” Grim agrees.

“Then we just have to bring a tart and try again,” Deuce says, pulling out his phone. “We can go after-” Suddenly, a bell rings out. “Crap!” Deuce exclaims, making them jump.

“What’s wrong?” Dove asks.

“That’s the warning bell! We’re gonna be late!” Deuce exclaims.

“My shining school life is going to be tarnished on day one!” Grim exclaimed, freaking out. “We need to go!”

“Wait!” Dove exclaims. “We don’t even know what our first class is, Grim.”

“What is your class?” Ace asks.

“From the papers we got, I think...Class 1-A.” she says.

“Wow. We're in the same class. First period is Potions.” Deuce says.

“Wooo! Sounds like fun!” Grim exclaims excitedly before running off.

“Does he even know where he’s going?” Dove asks. Deuce runs after him, Dove and Ace following.

“I can’t use magic, so I’ll wonder how this will go…” Ace says.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	2. First Day of Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite having a rocky morning, the four go to their first set of classes and get more acquainted with school life.

They do make it on time. It was very convenient that their first period class was so close. Everyone had to wear lab coats, gloves and protective goggles, all of them have the sigil of their houses on the sleeves. Since they are special students, it’s just plain lab coats. She saw the others in there and sat between Deuce and Ace, with Grim sitting on her desk. The room they are in is a laboratory, with shelves lining with bottles with different color liquids and items inside. A tall man is in the room, probably the professor. He was decked in black and white; his hair, his striped fur coat, his tux underneath and had a whip with a red collar on the end of it.

“So, you are all the fresh faces in my homeroom,” he says, looking around the room of new students. “Hmmm. There are some rare hair colors in the bunch. Not bad; make sure to take proper care of it daily.” It was creepy the way he said it. “My name is Divus Crewel. You may feel free to call me Master Crewel. First, the basics: I will beat the names and appearances of one hundred types of medicine and poison into your little brains. We’ll cover fungi later. Now, memorize these so you don’t go around getting poisoned by random things you eat off the ground. Dogs will eat whatever is lying around. Your training will be strict and I better not see any red marks on your tests.” As he continues on, he gives the students books for study. Looking through the book, she notices that it has a lot of pictures in it; it’s a lot better for her to memorize everything. Grim looks over the book as well.

“All that matters for grass is whether or not it tastes good.” he says, making her giggle.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Second period was in a regular classroom, the same kind as the one they saw yesterday. A new professor is here, less flashy than Crewel. His face is more angular, gray streaks in his hair and wearing clothing that fit more in the Victoria era. He also has a fluffy black and white cat with him. He, and even the cat, look very serious.

“I am Trein and I’m in charge of your history lessons.” he introduces himself, voice low. “This is my familiar, Lucius. You will learn about the history of magic that has brought prosperity to the world.” Lucius meows, which sounded more like a weird groaning than a meow. “Participation in class will affect your grade, not just your reports. I will not forgive sleeping in class. Open your textbooks to page fifteen. We will start with the discovery of magic crystals in the Dwarfs’ Mine.” Dove hears soft snoring on her left and, looking over, sees Ace dozing off. She nudges him with her leg, making him jerk up. After he gets his bearings, he looks over at her, annoyed, and she mirrors his look.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Third period is Athletics. This had a bit of a problem for her and the other girls. On one hand, they had to figure out where to change into their clothes because of...obvious differences from the boys. Luckily, no one seemed to care when they changed in the bathroom stalls. But the other thing was their uniform shirts were white; luckily, they had vests on. They all meet on the field, meeting with another professor. He was more buff than the previous two, puffed up black hair and wearing red and white athletic wear.

“I’m Vargas. I’m in charge of athletics for you bean sprouts,” he says, grinning. “Becoming a great wizard starts with your muscles! Look at all the muscle I’ve built eating raw eggs every day!” He flexes his arms, showing off the muscles there. Next to her, Amelia shakes her head in amusement.

“Reminds me of a bonehead I know back home.” she whispers to Dove, making her giggle.

“You baby wizards have no stamina. Start with twenty laps around the track, then one hundred pushups!” The whole group started running laps. Dove is not a fan of doing any sort of physical activity and definitely didn’t like running. She kept a good pace with Ace, Deuce and Grim, seeing the others running in front of her.

“I don’t dislike exercise, but I can’t deal with this type of teacher.” Ace complains.

“I’ve got confidence in my stamina.” Deuce says, smiling confidently.

“What’s so fun about running in circles?! I’m not a freaking hamster!” Grim complains, trying to keep up with them.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

After three periods of classes, they finally have a break. They all walk down the interior hallway. “You know, this magical school isn’t that different from regular schools,” Dolphina observes. “None of the classes were as hard as I thought.” While the others talk, Dove hangs back with Ace and Deuce. Deuce is looking over their schedule while Dove walks next to Ace.

“How are you feeling without using any magic, Ace?” she asks him. He shrugs.

“Surprisingly, none of the classes required me to really use magic,” he answered. “Different than I thought.”

“Same here. What about you, Grim?” She looks down to talk to Grim...only to not see him. She looks around, confused. He was just here. “Grim?” The others stop.

“Dove, what’s wrong?” Stell asks.

“Do any of you know where Grim went off to?” she asks. However, the answers come from Deuce.

“Look out the window!” he exclaims, pointing out the window. “The furball is making a beeline through the courtyard.” They all arrive at the window, seeing Grim running in the courtyard.

“I’m not sitting through boring classes all day!” Grim complains. “As a genius, I don't need any classes to teach me to use my magic with a bang!”

“Is that little asshole seriously making trouble again?” Amelia questions, pissed.

“He’s going to skip class all on the first day?” Alex questions.

“The headmaster is going to be mad when he finds out.” Ambrosia says.

“He never learns.” Stell says. Dove turns to the others.

“Wait. Let me catch Grim before we have our next class.” she suggests. “If we all go at the same time, it will be more noticeable and we’ll get in trouble.”

“Are you sure?” Stell asks. Dove nods. Ace comes up and pats her on the shoulder.

“Like we’re gonna let you do this alone. So, do you want help catching Grim?” he asks. Dove nods, smiling.

“Yes, please!” she answers.

“You owe me a chocolate croissant then.” Ace says, smirking. Dove blinks.

“Wha-” She’s interrupted when Deuce speaks up.

“Then I’ll help you for an iced latte from the cafeteria.” he says, smiling. Did they just bargain with her? She turns to the others, but they are already going down the hall.

“G-guys!” She calls them.

“Have fun~” Dolphina says in a sing-song voice. She wanted to just catch Grim and get this over with. Sighing, she turns back to the smiling boys.

“You got a deal.” she says.

“Now then, Deuce, shall we clean up after our pathetic, little non-magical?” he says, ruffling her hair. She meekly swats him away.

“Sure thing, Ace. I’m looking forward to lunch.” Deuce replies back, smirking. She pouts.

“You guys are the worst.” she says, but there’s no venom in it. At least she knew they would actually help her out. The three of them run out of the hallway to the courtyard. The trio spot Grim running around the trees. “How are we going to catch him?” She is surprised Ace hands her a butterfly net.

“With these.” he says, smirking.

“With these nets?” she asks. “He does breathe fire. You remember that part, right?”

“We just need him to think we’ll catch him with the nets.” Deuce says. “We just need to corner him.” Dove nods in understanding. She’s glad that they can work together easily...although that means it comes at her expense.

“Okay then! Let’s get this done so I can get my croissant.” Ace says. If that’s what it takes, she guesses. Ace and Dove run towards Grim, who’s chilling by the well. “Hey, fur ball!” he yells, getting the monster’s attention.

“You can’t just skip out on classes, Grim.” Dove says.

"They’re boring classes! I’m not going back there.” Grim says before running off. Stubborn cat. The two chase after him with their nets, chasing him around the courtyard and try to avoid running into any students around. He’s not the easiest to catch with him jumping around; it came to a point where she would accidently catch Ace in the net. Finally, Grim gets stopped when Deuce gets in front of him and they corner him.

“Come forth, cauldron!” Deuce says, making a cauldron appear and land on top of Grim. The monster yowls, caught underneath it.

“Alright!” Ace cheers. “Our lunch is secured now.”

“Y-you guys are really in sync when it comes to tormenting me, huh?” Grim says, upset. He lifts the cauldron off and Dove picks Grim up.

“Come on, Grim.” Dove says.

“No way, no way!” Grim exclaims, trying to struggle out of her hold. “No way I’m going back to those boring classes!”

“Then you won’t become a great wizard.” she responds. Grim huffs.

“Dammit! You’re being extra strict today!” Grim exclaims. Dove puffs her cheeks in annoyance as they walk back to the classrooms.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

After what seemed like weeks of classes, they went to the cafeteria for lunch. Unlike the last time they were in here, the cafeteria is full with students. It had a long buffet full of choices. Grim was super excited.

“Finally! It’s lunch time!” he exclaims excitedly. “Wow! Everything always looks so good!” He looks at all the choices at the buffet. “Fluffy omurice! Grilled chicken and bacon egg tarts!”

“You’re so loud! You’re only this excited with lunch.” Ace says, confused by the monster’s mood change. Dove just giggles as they go through the line. There were a lot of choices, ranging from specific meat choices to vegetarian to desserts and so on. She knew what she wanted to get, getting some food for herself. She also grabbed Ace’s croissant and Deuce’s iced latte; a deal is a deal, after all. However, Grim is a little too excited.

“Hey, hey! I want some grilled chicken!” he exclaims, pointing to the last plate of it. “It’s the last one!” He points to some other dishes, jumping around excitedly. “And the omurice! Bread with jelly, too! Just take a bunch of everything!” Before she could tell him to calm down, he bumps into someone in front of them. Him and another student turn to them.

“Watch it!” the student with silver hair exclaims. Grim yelps, jumping up on Dove’s shoulder. “Cause of you, the egg in my pasta broke!” They all look at the plate. It doesn’t even look ruined; all that’s changed is that the egg is covering the pasta.

“Breaking the gooey egg is the best part of eating carbonara.” a student with red hair exclaims. It’s ridiculous that they are getting so hyped up over an egg on pasta. He turns to them. “How are you going to pay for that?!” The silver haired boy points at the grilled chicken on Dove’s tray.

“Hand over that grilled chicken as consolation and we’ll call it even.” he says. Grim growls, bristling.

“Hell no! This is my chicken!” he says.

“Oh? Not showing your superior respect as freshmen? Come around back!” the red-head threatens. Are they actually going to fight...over some food?

“S-Senior.” Deuce stammers, coming between them. “Settling personal squabbles with magic is prohibited-”

“Squabble?” the silver-haired interrupts him. “This is just seniors teaching their juniors proper behavior.” The two of them get closer to the four. She doesn’t want a fight!

“Excuse me.” Before things could get ugly, Stell comes up to the group with Amelia and Alex. Thank goodness! “Can we help you with something?” she asks the two other students. They turn to her group.

“This doesn’t concern you.” the silver-haired one says.

“It does, actually.” Stell says sternly. “If there is a problem with one of us, then we can discuss this together.” The two students must have realized that this was a moot point to try and fight them because, after a moment, they turn and walk away. She let out a sigh of relief after they leave before turning to Stell and the others.

“Thank you guys.” she says.

“It was no problem at all. We were coming to see why you guys weren’t done in line and found your little problem.” Stell explains.

“We were worried about you guys, so we came as a little group.” Alex says.

“Those guys were cowards anyway!” Grim says proudly.

“Even though it was your fault that they were mad.” Deuce points out.

“Of course it was.” Amelia says, not even surprised. Grim bristles again, but doesn’t say anything this time.

“Whatever, let’s just eat,” Ace says, his stomach growling. “After missing breakfast, I’m so hungry I’m gonna pass out…”

“We have a table for all of us.” Stell says. The group follows them to their table. As they walk, Dove notices Deuce hanging back.

“We really have no luck,” he says. “There are so many people trying to get into this prestigious school, but they let in guys like that…” She turns to him, smiling.

“It’s a good thing we have people like you in the school, then.” she says. She though that would make him feel a little better; however, he doesn’t and just hums. Usually, someone would be happy that they’re not compared to delinquents. She wanted to press him on, but it would be rude to pry further. They join the others at a table and they all sit down, setting their trays of food on the table. Grim jumps on the table, grabbing his food.

“Back to the task at hand! Let’s eat!” Grim exclaims excitedly before digging into his food. “Delicious! The egg around the omurice is light and fluffy, the center is filled with gooey cheese!” He continues eating his food.

“Even when he has food, he still continues to speak.” Ambrosia says before taking a bite of her salad. Dove sometimes wondered about her; how can someone have no facial expressions, yet have the most expressive things to say? Dolphina, sitting across from her, leans a little forward to get her attention.

“I’m still a little jealous that you got to see another dorm today,” she says, smiling. “The way you described it makes it so beautiful.” Dove blushes. Yes, she did describe it to her during one of their classes, but it was also out of earshot from Ace and Deuce. She can tell that the two were looking at her, probably smirking, but she refuses to look. Thankfully, the red-head girl looks at them. “Do you guys know what the other dorms look like?” she asks. Before they can answer, they hear another voice speak up.

“You know about the Great Seven statues displayed on Main Street, right?” They all look up. It’s Cater from this morning! He’s also with another person, tall like him with short ivy green hair, mustard yellow eyes with glasses, and a black clover tattoo on his right cheek. “There’s seven of them so there are seven dorms.”

“You’re the guy from this morning!” Ace exclaims.

“You tricked us into painting those roses for you!” Grim exclaims.

“Saying I tricked you is so mean. I wasn’t doing it because I wanted to. It’s just how things are done in our dorm.” Cater explains, though Dove thinks otherwise.

“You were grinning the entire time.” Deuce points out.

“Now, now, Little Deuce. Those rules are only for inside the dorm, so now I’m just your kind upperclassman.” Cater says. Deuce grows flustered.

“D-drop the “little”!” he says. The other boy with Cater chuckles.

“That’s just how Cater shows affection.” he explains.

“I beg your pardon, but may I ask who you are?” Dove asks the green-haired boy. It was weird that they went on for this long and they had no idea what this person’s name was.

“Oh, my bad. I’m Trey.” he introduces himself. “Trey Clover. I’m a third year in Heartslabyul like Cater.” He turns to look at the others at the table. “And you’re the freshmen put in charge of that ramsh-” He coughs, interrupting himself. “Unused dorm, right?” Was he going to say something else?

“Yes, we are.” Stell chimes in.

“Cater told me earlier. Sorry about all the trouble these guys from our dorm have caused you.” Trey says.

“I’m sitting right here…” Ace mumbles.

“We should put that aside and make up. We’re in the same dorm after all.” Cater says before sitting down in front of her excitedly. “Let’s all exchange numbers!”

“Um...we don’t have phones.” Dove says. Cater's eyes widened in shock, as if she just grew another head.

“You don’t have a phone?!” he exclaims, looking at the rest of her group. “You’re crazy! You’re like an endangered species.” A bit dramatic, but it was weird that none of them had tried to get phones. How would a data plan even work in a magical world? Cater takes Dove’s hands into his, surprising her. “I know a place to get the newest models for cheap~ How about we go on a date to choose one?” he says, smiling at her. Dove blushes. Did he say “a date”? Maybe he meant a date like a day from the week...maybe.

“Cater,” Trey says, looking amused. “You’re scaring the freshman. Hold back a bit.” Cater nods, letting go of her hands. This must happen often.

“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry.” Cater apologizes, still smiling. “We were talking about the dorms?” With that small exchange, she completely forgot about Dolphina’s question about the other dorms. “Sounds good! A fresh convo. We’ll tell you anything you wanna know.”

“First I want you to tell us about our own dorm.” Ace says. “The hell is up with those crazy “Laws of the Queen of Hearts”?”

“You know all about the legend of the Queen of Hearts, right?” Trey asks. “She created a wonderland of madness built on strict adherence to her rules.”

“Out of respect for the Queen of Hearts,” Cater continues. “those of us in Heartslabyul traditionally wear red and black arm bands, just like her dress, and uphold the laws that she made.”

“Sounds like a still place.” Grim comments.

“How strict we follow the rules depends on the dorm leader. Last year’s was pretty chill about it.” Cater says.

“Riddle is the most serious of all dorm leaders.” Trey says. “He follows the rules to the max.”

“What a pain…” Ace sighs. Dove kind of understands; there are rules and they should be followed, but even rules don’t have to be followed if they don’t make sense. Not that any of them made any sense in the first place.

“What are the other dorms like?” Dolphina asks.

“Like Cater said, there are seven dorms each emulating one of the Great Seven,” Trey explains. “Our dorm, Heartslabyul, is founded on the strict spirit of the Queen of Hearts. Next is Savanaclaw, the dorm founded on the fortitude of the King of Beasts. Octavinelle, the dorm founded on the benevolence of the Sea Witch. Scarabia, the dorm founded on the deliberation of the Sorcerer of the Sand. Pomefiore, the dorm founded on the strenuous efforts of the Beautiful Queen. Ignihyde, the dorm founded on the diligence of the King of the Underworld. Finally, there’s Diasomnia, the dorm founded on the elegance of the Witch of Thorns.”

“There are so many.” Dove says, amazed. Seven dorms, each of them with complicated names.

“I don’t know if I can remember them all.” Alex says, counting on her fingers from how many dorms there are. Cater laughs at their visible confusion.

“Just get a rough idea. You’ll remember them eventually.” he says.

“Which dorm you enter is based on the judgement of the Dark Mirror when it looks at your soul during the entrance ceremony, so each dorm has their own quirks about them.” Even though she wanted to forget the incident at the entrance ceremony, she was wondering how they were sorted into their dorms. It kind of makes sense; looking between the four students of Heartslabyul, they all have tattoos on their face that resemble a playing card. Was that planned beforehand?

“For example...look over there.” Trey says, pointing his thumb in the direction to one of the tables. They looked at the table and her eyes settled on one of the students. He was a pretty buff guy, white hair and...dog ears? In fact, all of the students at the table had animal features on them.

“So? It’s just some buff dudes with animal ears.” Amelia says pointedly. Those ears didn’t look fake to her.

“That rugged look definitely means Savanaclaw.” Trey says.

“Totally!” Cater agrees. “That dorm has a lot of people good at sports and martial arts. They’re the buff and gruff big bro types. Savanaclaw wears yellow and black armbands.” So far, even if they get the dorm names mixed up, she can at least remember them by colors.

“Then what about that guy with the gray and lavender thing on his arm?” Grim asks, pointing to another table. From the people at that table, the one Grimm points out has silver hair and glasses.

“He’s from Octavinelle,” Trey says before moving on. “At the table in front of us, the guys with the dark red and yellow are from Scarabia.” They look at the table in question. Two of those students caught her eye; one had silver hair and earrings, smiling and talking to the rest of the table, and the other student had long black hair, completely stoic.

“They say both of them are really smart.” Cater says. “Those two dorms are in a dead heat during written tests. Though, the Scarabia dorm leader isn’t that great at studying.”

“We’re getting completely derailed.” Ace says. Trey chuckles.

“You sure adapt quickly,” he says. “Back to what we were saying, over there, practically sparkling, are members of Pomefiore. They have purple and red armbands.” When they looked over at the table in question, he wasn’t kidding when he said “sparkling”. Everyone at that table was gorgeous! It was as if they were all models, they were so pretty.

“Whoa!” Grim exclaims. “There’s a super cute girl over there!” What? Looking in Grim’s direction, there is a super cute person there. Sitting next to someone with a large hat on, they had short lavender hair and big blue eyes. Well, if there is another girl, then they didn’t have to worry about-

“Wha?! At a boys school?” Deuce exclaims, shocked and confused. All...boys...school?

“This is a boys only school, there’s no way that’s a girl.” Ace points out. Deuce and Grim are both shocked, mouths agape. Although it was amusing to see, her theories seem to come together: no one knows that they are girls. It’s an all boy school and the headmaster didn’t mention this or even acknowledged that there was something different about them, other than the whole non-magical aspect. They were definitely not supposed to be here, so now they really need to figure out a way to go home.

“If you wanna see girls, the portrait in the west building, Roselia is a pretty high level.” Cater says, looking at Ace. “I don’t mind introducing you if you’re interested. Should I set up a blind date?” Ace blushes, flustered at the question.

“I’m-I’m good!” he stammers. “No matter how cute Roselia is, she’s just a painting.”

“Anything goes if you’re good looking.” Cater says. That statement leaves her with some questions. “Pomefiore scores high for looks and their beauty regimen is second to none. Their dorm leader is a Magicam-grammer with over five million followers.”

“Hey now. Don’t focus entirely on their looks.” Trey chimes in. “Pomefiore has many members skilled at making potions and curses.” Multi-talented in both physical and mystical? It was a lot more than she could handle.

“Next would be Ignihyde, but…” He looks around the cafeteria before looking back at the group. “I don’t see any of them around. They’ve got blue and black armbands. Everyone in that dorm has their guard up at all times, not even I have any friends in there. They’re the exact opposite of the extraverts in Heartslabyul.”

“They’re introverts?” Alex asks.

“They do have a quiet image.” Trey says. “Many of them are good at building equipment that use magical energy or digital things.” So...nerds.

“Only the...Diablabla dorm is left.” Deuce says, saying the “dorm” name in a low voice to try and hide the mispronouncing.

“You can’t fool me with that straight face.” Ace says, pointing him out. “It’s Diasomnia.”

“I bit my tongue, okay!” Deuce says, defending himself while also not looking at them. It was cute.

“Diasomnia is...there.” Cater says, pointing in a direction. “They’re all shoved into that booth in the back. Their symbol is their green and black armband. They’re kind of like celebrities around here. They’ve all got this aura that makes it hard for us regulars to approach them. The dorm leader has MAX “don’t come near me” vibes.” They look to where the Diasomnia students are and Dove can see why. Although they are just students, something felt mysterious, almost threatening, about them. They were all stoic, almost soldier-like, and looked like they would make you disappear if you give them the wrong look. But as she keeps looking, she notices someone who looks young between two taller boys.

“Huh? There’s a kid with them.” Ace asks, seeing what she is seeing.

“You can skip grades and still enter this school.” Trey says. “But he isn’t a kid. He’s a third year, just like-”

“Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge.” a voice says. It didn’t come from anyone at the table. That is until they look up. Hovering over the table was the young person from the Diasomnia table. Everyone on the table freaking out, Dove feeling Deuce and Ace grabbing her arms. He’s just...floating up there, upside down. The boy floats down to the side of the table, chuckling. Now that he was closer, she saw that there were magenta highlights in the boy’s short black hair and raspberry red eyes.

“Are you all curious about my age?” Lilia says, his voice sounding more mature than his face. “I have this baby-faced visage, but like glasses says, I’m not at an age where one would call me a child.” He smiles. “There’s no need to look on from afar. Just come up and speak with us. Are we all not students of the same academy? We at Diasomnia will always welcome you with open arms.” With another look at the booth, she sees two of the students staring at their table. One had sweeping silver hair and the other one had light green hair. From those serious stares, they didn’t look like they were very welcoming.

“Thank you for your offer.” Everyone turns to Stell, who is addressing Lilia and smiles. “We look forward to seeing you around.” Looking back at Lilia, she swears that his eyes glinted before returning back. Is it really that rare for others to even talk to them? If she’s being honest, if he didn’t come to them she would have probably never even said hi to them. They do look intimidating, after all. Lilia chuckles before speaking again.

“Apologizes for dropping in on your meal. Until we meet again.” he says before going back to his table. Once he’s gone, they all lean closer to each other.

“Our table is easily over twenty meters away from them, but you’re telling me that he heard us talking?” Ace asks, whispering. “Freaky!”

“Well...let’s just say that Diasomnia has many peculiar members.” Trey answers. “Many of their talents excel at magic in general. Their dorm leader, Malleus Draconia, is counted among the top five wizards in the world.”

“Honestly, Malleus is like super, super, super crazy.” Cater says. “Our dorm leader is his own brand of crazy, though.”

“So true!” Ace agrees. “All I did was eat a single piece of tart and he collared me. His narrow-mindedness is super crazy.”

“Hmmm? I’m super crazy?” another voice says. Dove sees another person behind Ace. He looked familiar, with his wine red hair and small stature, but she can’t remember. But, judging by Deuce’s face, she could probably tell. However, Ace doesn’t seem to notice yet.

“Yeah. He blew right past “strict” and is just a tyrant.” Ace continues, unaware of who said it.

“Ace.” Dove says, turning Ace around.

“Huh?” Finally, he notices and freaks out. “Dorm leader!”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	3. Apology to the Dorm Leader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dove finally meets the Heartslabyul's Dorm leader, Riddle Rosehearts.

“Dorm leader!”

The dorm leader, Riddle, crosses his arms and narrows his eyes. He doesn’t look particularly happy.

“Oh my, Riddle. You’re super, crazy cute today~” Cater says. However, when she looks at him, he looks more uncomfortable and tries to deflect the situation. The dorm leader just hums.

“Cater. If you continue talking, it’s going to cost you your head.” the dorm leader says bluntly.

“Hey now. Gimme a break.” Cater says light-heartedly. He is just going to let him talk to them like that?

“This is the guy that put that weird collar on me during the entrance ceremony!” Grim exclaims. Oh...that’s who he is. Riddle looks directly at Grim. For someone so small, his look is intense and intimidating.

“Will you knock it off, calling someone’s unique magic a “weird collar”?” He then turns his attention to Dove. “You’re the freshman that caused all that fuss of expulsion yesterday. For goodness sake.” He shakes his head in disapprovement. “The headmaster is soft. If you forgive rule-breakers, the whole system will collapse. All you have to do is cut the head off of those who don’t follow the rules.” Out of context, that is a terrifying thing to say. She looks to her group, but they all secretly agree that arguing a point here won’t solve anything. “The headmaster appears to have forgiven you, but make no mistake; the next time it happens, I will not.” She doesn't even know how to respond to that. They're not even his problem to take care of in the first place; there may be rules in Heartslabyul that are different in the school, but her mistakes are hers to deal with.

“By the way, dorm leader. Is there any way you could, say...remove this collar?” Ace asks, scratching the back of his head.

“I was going to if you had learned your lesson, but the way you were just talking shows that you haven’t at all.” Riddle says. “Keep it on for a while longer. Don’t worry: As first years, you’ll only be learning fundamentals, not actually using magic. You also won’t be able to cause a scene like yesterday. Isn’t that great?” It was so confusing to her. Yes, maybe he shouldn’t have been talking about his dorm leader like that and took account that he’s a first year student, but it was still cruel to leave the collar on. “Now, don’t just sit around chatting away. Finish your lunch and head to your next class. Laws of the Queen of Hearts, Number two hundred and seventy-one: “One should eat lunch and leave their seat within fifteen minutes”. If you break the rules...I’m sure you understand?” Another weird rule? How many rules are there?

“Yes, dorm leader.” Deuce and Ace answer.

“Very good.” Riddle says.

“I'll look after them for you.” Trey says to the dorm leader. Riddle stares at him for a moment.

“...Hm. You’re the vice dorm leader, so I expect you to not act foolishly.” he says. “Following the Laws of the Queen of Hearts, Number three hundred and thirty-nine: “After finishing a meal, one must always drink lemon tea with two sugars”. I must go buy sugar cubes from the school store, so I’ll be on my way.” As he makes his leave, she hears him mumbling. “Letting the sugar cubes run out is a huge offense. I can’t believe…” She looks after him as he walks away. Something felt...wrong, like dark clouds before a storm. However, she doesn’t know why.

“Ho boy. That was close.” Cater’s voice brings her back to the conversation.

“That guy is so obnoxious.” Grim says.

“Grim, don’t be rude.” Stell says. Dove hears murmurs from the table behind her. It was other Heartslabyul students, who seemed relieved that the dorm leader. Was he really that intense and scary to the others?

“In his first week at school, Riddle took the seat of dorm leader.” Trey says, continuing their conversation from earlier. “He speaks harshly, but he’s trying to make the dorm better. He doesn’t have bad intentions.”

“Someone with good intentions doesn’t randomly collar people.” Grim grumbles. Cater and Trey laugh uncomfortably. So, they are aware of their dorm leader’s action.

“Grim, you’re the one who went fire crazy at the ceremony.” Yasmina says to Grim, who growls back. However, Dove knew what he meant.

“By the way, what is “unique magic”?” she asks the two seniors, changing the subject.

“Hm? You mean Riddle’s unique magic?” Cater asks. Dove nods.

“It’s magic that’s strictly limited to one person.” Trey explains. “Simply put, it’s magic that reflects the character of the user that only they can use. That’s why it’s called “unique magic”. You’ll learn about it in class eventually.”

“Riddle’s unique magic lets him seal another person’s magic for a fixed amount of time.” Cater says. “It’s called “Off With Your Head”.”

“Just the name alone is terrifying.” Alex comments.

“As a wizard, having your magic sealed hurts like losing your head.” Cater explains. “Therefore, you shouldn’t break Riddle’s rules inside the dorm.”

“It also means he isn’t scary if you follow the rules.” Trey adds. Someone who is in charge shouldn’t be scary at all.

“So, what you’re saying is I have to go buy a tart or Cater will kick me out again?” Ace asks.

“That’s right.” Cater agrees, nodding. “As decided by the Laws of the Queen of Hearts, Number fifty-three. In particular, Riddle really looks forward to eating the first piece of a whole tart, so he won’t forgive you unless it’s whole.”

“You said you wanted to be friends, so can’t you just overlook that?” Ace asks.

“That is that and this is this.” Cater says simply with a smile. Of course it would be.

"But aren’t whole tarts pretty expensive?” Deuce asks.

“I don’t have that kind of madol…” Ace says, sinking down in his seat.

“Then why don’t you make one?” Amelia suggests. They look at her. “I heard that there’s a kitchen for students to use.”

“Is that true?” Dove asks the two seniors.

“Yep.” Cater confirms. “After all, the other tarts were all made by Trey.” Ace sits up in his seat, a look of astonishment on his face.

“Trey, you made that tart?” Ace asks. “It was as good as a pro’s!” Trey chuckles.

“Thank you.” he says. “I do have all the tools and seasoning that you need, but I’m not helping you for free.”

“I have to pay for it!?” Ace exclaims. Trey laughs at his expression.

“I’m not gonna squeeze money out of a freshman.” he explains. “If we’re going to make a tart for Riddle, we need a lot of chestnuts. Could you gather them for me?” Ace groans in annoyance.

“We can do that.” Dove interjects. “How many do you need?”

“To make it for the Unbirthday Party, we need...about two to three hundred, I think.”

“That many?!” Dove, Ace, Deuce and Grim exclaim. Trey nods.

“Then I’ll have you roast them and remove the outer shell to take out the nut.” Trey explains. Dove swears that she can see a small smirk on the older boy’s face.

“You guys have a lot of work ahead. I’m leaving.” Amelia says, getting up from the table. Dove quickly gets up and grabs her.

“Oh no you don’t.” Dove says. “You suggested it, so you’re going to help us.”

“I didn’t have a say in this agreement.” she says back to the other.

“You know,” Cater chirps up. “Tarts that everyone makes together are always the best. You can make memories out of it and make your debut as a food blogger.” Dove smiles at the other girl.

“Mont Blanc is the best tart to make.” Trey says. “And those who help make it get to eat some.”

“Aw, Amelia isn't going to back out of her big sis duties, is she?” Yasmina says, smirking.” The brunette glares at the other.

“I know where you sleep at night.” she says before sighing. “Fine. If only to make sure that the four of you stay out of trouble.” She then looks to Trey and Cater. “So, where do we find the chestnuts?”

“There should be plenty of chestnut trees in the forest behind the campus botanical garden.” Trey answers.

“Then we meet after class in front of the botanical garden.” Ace says.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	4. Botanical Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After school, the group heads to the Botanical Garden to get supplies to pick chestnuts for the tart. However, they meet with a unsavory character...

After their final class for the day, Dove, Deuce, Ace, Amelia and Grim walk to the forest. It was a better sight than the one at the Dwarf’s Mine. It has colorful trees, filled with various food combinations.

“There’s so many chestnuts all over the place!” Grim exclaims happily. “It’s a forest of all-you-can-eat Mont Blanc!” Grim has been cheerful since Trey told them that they would have some of the finished Mont Blanc tart they’re going to make. What a gluttonous creature. “Let’s get picking!” He is about to pick one of the chestnuts before Amelia pulls him away.

“Hold on.” she says. Grim struggles against her.

“Hey! What gives?” he exclaims.

“You can’t pick chestnuts with your bare hands.” she says before pointing at the chestnuts. “Look closer.” Sure enough, as Dove leans in, there are thorns surrounding the nuts. “We need to get something to pick those out.” she says.

“It’ll also be good to get some baskets to put them all in.” Deuce says.

“The botanical garden probably has whatever we need inside.” Ace says, pointing to the garden’s entrance.

“Let’s go then.” Dove says and they walk to the garden.

If they thought the forest was lovely, then the garden was beautiful. The garden was huge, surrounded by a glass dome. There were different paths that led to different plants and trees.

“Wow. It’s beautiful.” Dove says, amazed.

“It's bigger in here than I thought.” Ace says.

“There should be a caretaker of this place.” Deuce says. “Let’s split up and find them.”

“I’ll go right.” Ace says.

“And I’ll go left.” Deuce says.

“Leaving the back to Grim, Dove and I.” Amelia says. The group splits off in their directions. They find that the back has many fruit trees and bushes. The aroma of fresh smells were very sweet. She sees Amelia lean down to look at a fruit bush and leans down with her. There were some that she recognized, like strawberries and apples, but then there were some that she has never seen before in weird shapes and colors. While they were looking at the fruit, Dove turns to Amelia.

“Thank you for coming.” she says to her. The brunette turns to her, humming in confusion. “I mean, you could have said no and went back to the dorm like everyone else. So, I’m glad you came with me.” The other girl smiles before shrugging.

“You’re welcome. I was probably just going to go to the library, so this is a nice change of pace.” she answers. “I wasn’t kidding about watching you guys either, considering none of them notice we’re a bit different.”

"Yeah. It’s a little strange that we’re not magicians like them.” Dove answers. She is confused when Amelia giggles.

“I meant the other thing.” she says, pointing between them. Oh. Ohh. She hasn’t really thought about it while they were busy with classes, but now it all comes back to her. None of the boys realized that they were girls, not even a question about their femininity. She looked for Grim to see if he was paying attention, but he was more interested in the fruit than anything else.

“Oh.” She leans closer to her. “Do you think that we look more like boys than girls? They noticed that one student and instantly thought that was a girl.”

“Everyone except your little boyfriend.” Amelia answered. It took her a second to realize what she said and Dove blushes.

“Wh-what? He’s not my boyfriend.” she protests.

“Oh really?” Amelia says, teasing her. “Then he must be a really good guy friend to sleep in the same bed as you.” Dove puffs out her cheeks while the other girl ruffles her hair. “You’re fun to tease, Dove. It’s okay; you’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Aren’t you only two years older than me?” she asks.

“You act like sixteen and eighteen aren’t so different from each other.” Amelia says before getting back up on her feet. Dove looks up at her, her brows furrowed in annoyance.

“Don’t think that karma won’t come around from your teasing.” she says. “I can’t wait to tease you about a guy you clearly like.”

“I highly doubt it.” she says, walking to another part of the back. Dove gets up when she hears a voice.

“Oof!” The voice was low and deep. She turns to Amelia.

“Was that you?” she asked. Amelia shakes her head, looking at the ground.

“No. I think I stepped on something, but I don’t see it.” she says.

“Hey. You’ve got some nerve stepping on someone’s tail without saying anything.” the voice says, annoyance is obvious. The bushes beside them rustle, making Amelia and Dove group up a few steps back and Grim, finally noticing what’s happening, jumps in Dove’s arms. A figure rises and steps out from the bushes. He was tall, long chocolate brown hair and tanned skin, with animal ears on the top of his head and a tail swishing behind him. It seemed like he was wearing a school uniform, but doesn’t have his jacket or tie on and is wearing a yellow vest. His summer green eyes were narrowed in annoyance, crossing his arms.

“Are you the caretaker here?” Grim asks. “You seem like an impolite guy…”

“I was right in the middle of a nice nap, then you go and walk all over my tail. This sucks.” he says, completely ignoring the question. Why was he even taking a nap on the ground in the first place, especially somewhere where anyone could walk on his tail? From his body language, she’s not going to say that out loud.

“We’re so sorry.” she says instead. He stares at them for a moment, as if observing them.

“You…” Suddenly, he smirks and uncrosses his arms, one hand on his hip. “Aren’t you the herbivores that the mirror said can’t use magic?” The name surprises her; of everything they have been called since coming to the school, “herbivores” seemed to be the most insulting thing she’s ever been called. He hums and he walks right up to her face. Before she can protest, he sniffs her and Grim. She stood there, frozen. It happened so fast and it was so weird.

“Hey! The hell are you-” With a whip of his head, he turns his attention to Amelia, making her stop mid-sentence. He sniffs her, but instead of near her head like he did with her, he goes dangerously close to her neck. Despite it being a bit silly, there was a real intimidating and dangerous feel to all of this. He moves away, smirking directly into her friend’s eyes.

“...Ha. I really don’t smell a speck of magic on any of you.” he says before backing up. “I don’t feel like taking on an opponent that can’t resist.” Everything he is saying is so threatening, making her scared. Even Grim is curling further in her arms, his hair standing on end.

“If you’re done, we have things to do.” Amelia speaks up. Her voice wasn’t shaking or had any sign of fear in it. Looking at her face, she looked so calm. How was she so calm? She is about to move in one direction, but he quickly intercepts her. What was he doing?

“I, Leona, can’t just let you walk away after stepping on my tail.” he says, his voice intimidating. “I was having such a lovely nap and now I’m just pissed. I’m gonna take a tooth.”

“What?!” Dove exclaims. She couldn’t help it coming out. Was this guy serious? But Amelia didn’t back down.

“If you’re that pissed about it, then keep this between you and me. Leave these two out of it.” she says, as if challenging him. Was she serious? Was she actually going to fight this dude? Compared to her, this Leona guy looked stronger than her. Not to mention he can use whatever magic on them. She sees this Leona guy smirk even more, seemingly amused.

“You think you can take me on?” he growls, the sound sending chills down her spine. Yet, Amelia doesn’t move. What on earth could she be thinking? Before anything could escalate, she hears another voice call out.

“Leona!” The voice sounded cheerful. Although it was unexpected, she was glad because it does distract the other. He hums before backing away from Amelia. In the next moment, another student comes bouncing into view. He was wearing the same colors as Leona, but looks a little bit more formal than him. He has biscuit brown hair and blue gray eyes, with animal ears and a tail.

“Ah, there you are!” he says to the taller student. “It’s time for your remedial lessons, y’know.” She hears the other groan.

“The annoying one’s here…” he says in a whisper. Despite the insult, the other smiles at him.

“It’s ‘cause you keep failing, Leona.” he says. “If you keep getting held back we’re gonna be classmates.”

“Knock it off already, Ruggie. I don’t need lectures from you.” Leona says.

“I don’t enjoy nagging you! You’d have no prob if you just tried.” Ruggie says back. The entire time they’re talking, the three of them just stand there like they were watching their parents arguing. They were just being threatened by this dude, and now he’s being berated like a spoiled child. “Whatever, let’s go!” Ruggie says, leading him away to go to his class. Leona tsks before following, but not before looking back at the three. She wishes that he forgot about them because his stare was intense.

“Watch out next time you come onto my terf…herbivores.” he says before leaving with the other. As soon as he was gone, they all let of a sigh of relief that she didn’t know she was even holding. Amelia turns to her and Grim, leaning down to face them.

“Are you guys okay?” she asks, her face soft and concerned. Dove nods.

“I’m sweating bullets!” Grim exclaims, still shaking in Dove’s arms. “What’s with that intimidating caretaker?!” The older girl shakes her head.

“I don’t think he was a caretaker.” she says. “Even if he was, he was rude.”

“I’m surprised that you stood up to him, Amelia.” Dove says. “How do you even have the courage for that?” The other girl shrugs.

“I grew up in a very outspoken household.” she replies. “I’ve been taught to not let anyone walk over you, especially brutes.”

“I wish I had that kind of confidence.” Dove says, frowning a little. Amelia gives her a soft smile before patting her head gently.

“Don’t worry about it too much. You’re more of the forgiving type and people need that more.” she says. Her compliments make her blush a little. Hearing the few compliments she gets from people makes her heart swell. She’s glad to have met some nice people who care about her. They hear footsteps and, when they turn, see Deuce and Ace with baskets and tools in their hands.

“We found some baskets and tongs over there!” Ace announces, holding up the items. Deuce, on the other hand, furrows his brow in concern.

“Did something happen?” he asks. Even though she’s calmed down from a few minutes ago, it must still be evident on her face. Before she could answer, Grim jumped out of her arms.

“Ah, that’s right!” Grim exclaims, completely changing his tone from earlier. “Our tart will be too small if we don’t get a bunch.” Back to old Grim.

“We’ll tell you while we pick the chestnuts.” Amelia says. Knowing that they have work to do, they all leave the botanical gardens and go back in the woods. While picking the chestnuts with their tools, Amelia recounts the encounter with the caretaker. Stepping on his tail, the weird sniffing, the threat to beating them, everything. “...and that’s what pretty much happened.” Amelia concludes.

“There is absolutely no way that’s a caretaker.” Ace says in disbelief.

“If I think back now that I’ve calmed down, that guy was wearing a yellow vest.” Grim says. “He must be from the Banana Dorm.”

“Banana…” Deuce says, confused. “Do you mean Savanaclaw?”

“Whatever!” Grim exclaims. “The guy was still a jerk.” While Grim was still fuming, Dove notices Deuce lost in thought.

“Is it just me or are there a lot of delinquents at Night Raven College..?” he mumbles. There is the delinquent dilemma again. What was the issue between him and delinquents?

“Our chestnut pile is pretty big!” Ace exclaims, bringing her back to reality. “Let’s get them back to Trey!” Grim cheers.

“This tart is gonna be awesome!” the creature exclaims. As they walk back, Dove’s mind is racing. Even though she has all the confidence in the world that this will work...why does it still feel odd?

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	5. Making the Tart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With all of their ingredients together, it's time to make the apology tart!

They follow the directions Trey gave them at the cafeteria to the kitchen. Of all the places they were in, the kitchen was the most normal-looking place. Large space with cabinets, fridge, and sinks. Trey was sitting on one of the tables, reading over a book he has. He looks up when they walk in and smile.

“You guys came with quite a lot of chestnuts.” he says. He stands up, setting the book down. Looking at it, she notices that it’s actually a cookbook on the page for mont blanc. It looks like one of the books from the library.

“With this, we can make a huge tart!” Grim exclaims happily.

“Peeling all this is going to be challenging, but...let’s get to it.” Trey says. Dove looks at the pile of chestnuts. She was actually super excited about this; she’s already familiar with cooking and baking, so she knew what would be in store.

“There are so many…” Deuce comments, seeing the pile of chestnuts.

“Making sweets is all about preparation.” Trey says.

“Yeah, yeah. We get it! I’m so ready to get this over with!” Ace exclaims excitedly. They get to work on peeling the chestnuts, with Deuce and Grim using magic while Ace, Amelia and Dove peeled them normally. Of course, the trio of troublemakers made this into a competition. “I’ll show you that I’m faster than your magic!” he exclaims, getting a pile and peeling the chestnuts. Does everything have to turn into a competition with them? It shouldn’t surprise her that they are still petty, even with such a small task. “Look at me, Dove! I managed to clean them off!” the red head exclaims, smiling wide. Trey looks over at his work.

“I’m surprised. You’re very dexterous, Ace.” Trey compliments him.

“Thanks~ I’m a different caliber from Mr. Serious and that cat over there.” Ace says, smirking over to Deuce and Grim. The other two frown.

“I peeled them cleanly, too! Take a look for yourself!” Deuce says, pointing at his pile of peeled chestnuts.

“Me, too! Compare mine to Ace’s!” Grim exclaims, although he is still snacking on some of them. They are acting like children wanting their parent’s attention, but Trey just chuckles.

“We still have a lot to peel, but you are at least energetic.” he says. He has a lot of patience, despite them wanting his attention. He has a smile on his face as he looks over everyone’s work. It was just so different from their Dorm Leader. How far does that patience extend? Those thoughts continued in her mind as they continued peeling chestnuts. She doesn’t know how much time has passed until she’s complete with her pile, along with everyone else. Ace and Deuce looked especially tired, Ace letting out an exaggerated sigh.

“We’re finally done with the peeling!” he exclaims, leaning against one of the cabinets.

“My arms hurt…” Deuce says, shaking his arms to take the numbness off. Trey lightly chuckles.

“Good job,” he says. “Your hard work will make it tastier.” Grim groans, lying on the table.

“I’m full just from just the smell.” he says. Trey just smiles.

“Next, we mix butter and sugar into the chestnut paste. Then add oyster sauce as the secret ingredient.” Trey says. He says it in such a serious tone that she almost misses what he said.

“Oyster sauce!?” Ace and Deuce yell in unison.

“Yep.” Trey confirms, nodding. “The savoriness of oysters adds depth and richness to the cream.” He takes a can from the table and shows the group. “Here’s some young oyster sauce with the walrus’ seal of excellence. Famous patisseries all use this in their tarts.”

“Oyster? In sweets?” Amelia says in disbelief.

“Seriously...that’s a pretty salty sauce.” Deuce says.

“Even chocolate gets put in curry all the time...it might be good.” Ace says. They were seriously considering it? However, as they consider it, she notices Trey covering his mouth with his hand, his shoulders shaking before he starts laughing.

“It’s a joke.” he says, still chuckling. “Oyster sauce doesn’t belong in sweets.” Everyone in the room is both shocked and embarrassed.

“You said it with such a straight face.” Dove says. Trey is still laughing, trying to keep some composure. 

“If you took a second to think about it, you’d figure it out.” he says, his laughter dying down a little. She knew that oyster sauce in sweets isn’t a good combination, but everything else was weird in this world so it didn’t seem out of place. Plus, she was actually a fan of oyster of any kind. Sauce or the seafood, it would’ve been interesting to actually try it out. “Don’t just accept things without a healthy amount of skepticism. Better study up. Next is the whip cream…” As he looks for the next item, he looks confused.

“What’s wrong?” Ace asks.

“You all gathered so many chestnuts that I got ahead of myself and made too much marron paste.” Trey explains. “We don’t have enough whipped cream to mix into it.”

“I can go out and buy some.” Deuce says. “Is it sold at the school store?”

“You can find anything at that place, so it should be there. Could I ask you to pick up a few other things?” Trey asks. Deuce nods. Trey looks over a cookbook that he has. “Two cartons of milk, a dozen eggs, aluminum cups and five cans of fruit.” Deuce looks a little worried.

“I can’t carry all of that by myself…” he says.

“I’ll go with you.” Dove says. Deuce looks at her.

“Are you sure?” he asks. She nods.

“I’ve never been to the school store before and I’m not letting you carry all of that alone.” she says. Grim jumps up from the table.

“I’m going too!” he exclaims. But Amelia grabs him by the nape of the neck.

“Oh no, you don’t.” She scolds the cat. “You’re going to help us mix the flour.” Grim whines, making Dove giggle. Trey also chuckles.

“Here. Let me make a list for you two and you’ll go on your way.” he says before bringing out some paper.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

The school store was so colorful! It looked like a small shop when they first arrived, so it didn’t look like much. However, when they went inside, it was so big. There were shelves upon shelves of items, from school supplies to everyday items to magical things she didn’t even recognize. Not only that, but there were decorations around the room that she would see at a local psychic parlor.

“Wow.” Deuce says, amazed. “This place is amazing. There’s a crystal skull, grimoires...What kind of taxidermy is that?” While he’s looking around at everything, she’s trying to find the items they were here for. There's so much stuff here, but she’s having a hard time finding what they need. She doesn’t even notice when someone pops up from the main counter.

“Hey, my little lost demons! How goes it?” a cheery voice says. Turning, he is surprised to see a man that wasn’t there before. He had on a purple suit with a skeleton design all over, a purple top hat with a skull on it, and he’s wearing white face paint that’s also a skull. “Welcome to Mr. S’s Mystery Shop. What can I do for you today? A charm for uncharted lands? Mummy of an ancient king? Or how ‘bout some cursed tarot cards?” He brings each item that he lists out of thin air. It must be his specific magic. Deuce comes up next to her, finally joining her.

“Um...no thank you. We’d like the things written here.” Deuce says before giving the man the list. He takes it and looks it over.

“Whipped cream, eggs...A nice sweet line-up.” He nods. “Ok! Coming right up!” He turns and goes into the back of the shop.

“Oh. I guess they’re in the back.” Dove comments. “Kind of smart.” Deuce nods. A few minutes later, Mister S comes back with their items.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait. It’s a bit heavy, you got it?” He puts the items on the counter. “If you order now, you can get a 1/100 size floating platter to carry your purchases for thirty percent off.”

“Um, no thank you.” Dove says, shaking her head. Deuce and Dove grab the bags before they start walking out.

“Ok, ok! Make sure to come by again, my little demons! Bye!” Mister S says, waving as they leave.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

“That store was crazy.” Deuce comments as he and Dove walk down Main Street with their bags.

“Crazy, but it was so interesting to look at.” Dove says, smiling. “There was so much in there that I didn’t get a good look at everything. I should go back with the others and we’ll take a better look at everything.” As they were walking, Dove was trying to get a good grip on her bag. She has the bags with the cans and whipped cream in it, so it was a little wobbly from how she was holding it. She just had to focus to not trip or drop the items.

“Dove.” Deuce’s voice draws her out from her thoughts and she looks at him questionly. “That bag of cans looks pretty heavy.” She lightly chuckles.

“Yeah, but I just need a good grip on it and I'll be fine.” she says, trying to brush it off. However, before she can protest, Deuce grabs her bag and puts it in his arms.

“I’ll carry it. I’m used to carrying heavy stuff.” he says smiling, carrying the bags with ease. It surprised her.

“Oh. Um...thanks.” she says. “You must buy a lot of stuff to get used to this.” Deuce shrugs.

“Yeah. My mom always buys more than we need when there’s a sale going on, so I get stuck carrying all the heavy stuff. Since I’m the only boy it’s my job to take care of anything that requires strength…” He stops talking, shaking his head. “My bad. I’ve been talking about myself.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Dove says. “It’s great that you care a lot about your mom and helping the family.” She says with a smile, only for it to falter when she looks at Deuce. He’s not smiling, his frown more out of pain than anything.

“...That’s not true at all.” he says quietly. “I always made mom-” Before he can finish, he bumps into something. This makes him drop the bags on the ground, a loud crack sounding. Yolk starts pouring out from the bag and staining the bottom of it. “Shit!” Deuce curses.

“There’s egg all over the bag.” Dove says, seeing the scene before her. “What happened?” But her answer comes in a form of an annoyingly familiar silver-haired student.

“Hey you! Watch where you’re g-wait...” The student suddenly recognizes them. “You’re the fools that wrecked the egg in my carbonara earlier.” The red head student comes up next to him.

“It’s you guys again. You can’t catch a break!” he says. Oh, why did they have to run into these two now? She’s not a fighter and none of her friends were here to help them out.

“You were the ones who jumped from behind the corner.” Deuce says. “At lunch, it wasn’t like you couldn’t eat the egg anymore, but you still came to pick a fight. Just now, you destroyed half of our eggs.”

“And? You’re saying it’s our fault?” the silver-haired student says.

“Yes.” Deuce answers. There’s a dark tone in his voice now. “Please pay for the eggs and please apologize to the chickens too.”

“Hm? You’re getting all worked up over eggs.” the red head says in a mocking tone.

“What?” Dove questions.

“They didn’t hit the ground, right? Don’t sweat the small stuff.” the silver-haired student says.

“We saved you the trouble of breaking them!” the red head says, laughing. The two of them laugh in their faces. It was so mean...Dove didn’t want to start crying, even though she could feel the heat of it from behind her eyes.

“...to laugh about.” She turns, barely hearing what Deuce says.

“Huh?” the silver haired one asks. She notices her friend stiff.

“Deuce?” she questions, her voice soft.

“This ain’t something to laugh about!” Deuce suddenly yells, looking majorly pissed. “You don’t get to make decisions for us! These eggs...Instead of becoming a chick, they were gonna make us a delicious tart! Don’t you get it? Huh?!” The outburst causes the other students to back up a little.

“What’s this guy's problem all of a sudden?!” the red head exclaims.

“If you don’t wanna pay for the six eggs you broke...I’ll punch you six times instead.” Deuce says, cracking his knuckles. “Grit your teeth, assholes!” Suddenly, he lunges at them. Dove could do nothing to stop him, even if she tried. She was afraid for him, since it was two against one, but she realizes that he has no problem with it. Although they try to tag team him, he dodges their attacks and punches them. In the stomach, in the chest, in the face. One, two, three! He was different from the careful and serious Deuce she has seen. There were the outbursts from the mines, but she didn’t think it came from somewhere. He was hitting them until they both hit the ground.

“T-This guy is straight up mad!” the silver-haired student stammers.

“Let’s get the hell outta here!” the redhead yells, finally getting up and helping his friend up off the ground. “I’m sorry to all the chickens!” The two run away like dogs chased with their tails between their legs.

“Apologize one hundred times next time you eat eggs, dumbasses!” Deuce yells after them. He breathes heavily before he falls to the ground on his knees.

“Deuce!” Dove quickly comes to his side, getting down to her knees. He has his eyes closed, his face scrunched up.

“I-I screwed up…” he says, his voice cracking. “I vowed that I'd definitely, definitely be an honor’s student this time..!” Dove was taken aback. Instead of saying anything, she let him continue. “In middle school, all I ever did was screw around...I constantly skipped school and spent all my time getting into fights. I disrespected all my teachers, hung around sketchy upperclassmen and bleached my hair to death. Even ran around all over the place riding a magical wheel. I was such a terrible person that went as far as to use magic to bully those who couldn’t.” He took a deep breath, though it sounded like he was in pain. “Then, one night...I saw my mom hiding away in tears as she called my grandma. “Was the way I raised him wrong? Would it have been better if he had both parents?” She was wrong; my mom never did anything wrong. It was all me. So when the carriage from Night Raven College came to get me, my mom was so happy and I don’t want to make her cry again. This time, I’m going to be an honor student my mom can be proud of...then I do this. Shit!” He pounds his fist on the ground.

Everything made sense now. His determination to get the gem from the Mine, his attitude to getting good grades, why he got upset when Ace got in trouble...He wanted to change his past and become better at any cost. It made her feel bad for him, knowing how it feels to try and change to make their parent proud. It was silent between them. She was unsure of what to say. She wanted to make the situation better, but...

“...That doesn’t mean you have to get pushed around.” she finally says after a long moment. He turns to her, looking surprised.

“Huh?” he questions.

“Being pushed around by delinquents is still unacceptable no matter who you are. Personally, I’m glad you showed those guys that you were capable of kicking their butts.” she says with determination. He blinks at her, probably in disbelief to what she was saying.

“Dove…” he says quietly, but she continues.

“Everyone gets upset, Deuce. That’s just who we are as people. Some of us take it out physically, some of us cry about it, but you are not to blame.” She covers his hand in hers, something she does automatically. “You’re a good person, Deuce, no matter what you did in the past. I’ve seen you be this good person in the short time I’ve known you. You do your studies and take them seriously, doing so much to help a fellow classmate, and you didn’t let yourself get bullied. Maybe it went a little too far, but it’s okay to get mad sometimes.” She gives him a comforting smile and, after a few seconds, he returns it.

“Really?” He lightly chuckles. At least he was smiling and in a better mood. She wanted to hug him, but she didn’t want to push it. Guys don’t do that...right? So, she settles with squeezing his hand in comfort. He doesn’t pull his hand away and seems to appreciate it, a light blush on his face.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.” she says. “We should probably go back and replace the eggs.”

“Yeah...May those baby chicks rest in peace.” he says, which confuses her.

“Huh? There weren’t any baby chicks in those eggs. They’re unfertilized eggs, so they won’t mature.” she explains. Deuce stares at her, his face showing confusing before shock.

“Whaaat?” he exclaims, echoing out. “You’ve got to be kidding?!”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

After they replace the eggs at the store (avoiding another deal from Mister S), they get back to the rest of the group at the kitchen.

“Oh, you’re finally back!” Ace says after they put down the bags. “That sure took a while.”

“Sorry about that.” she responds.

“Let’s finish this up.” Trey says. For the next hour, they finish making the tart; from finishing the past to baking, it was a big tart by the time they were done. “Lastly, we dust the top with powdered sugar…” They topped it with the powdered sugar and it was finally complete! The tart was a delicious brown and cream tart, topped with whipped cream and sugar.

“Finished!” Ace and Grim cheer.

“Finished…” Deuce says, though still distracted. Amelia leans over to Dove.

“What exactly happened while you guys were out?” she whispers to the other.

“Chick shock.” she responds, even as the older girl looks confused.

“For sixteen years, I believed that…” Deuce mumbles quietly.

“Making sweets takes so much time. I’m exhausted…” Ace says, stretching. The door opens and Cater comes bouncing in.

“Good work~” he chimes. “Is the tart finished?” He spots the tart. “The decorations look super cute! It’s totally Magicam-gramable! Let me take a pic.” He takes a picture of the tart.

“Why are you here?” Ace asks.

“I came to check on my cute underclassmen working so hard.” he responds, smiling at everyone. “You all look beat!” he laughs.

“Things you aren’t used to tire you out quick.” Trey speaks up. “So when you’re tired, you need to eat something sweet. Let’s go ahead and try the mont blanc we made.” Everyone cheers. It would be a nice reward for making this amazing dessert.

“Cater, you came in just in time to eat the tart.” Ace says. Cater shrugs.

“You can just think of me as the taste-tester.” the older boy says. Nevertheless, everyone gets a piece of the tart to taste it.

“It smells so deliciously sweet!” Grim exclaims, grinning at his piece. “The chestnuts on top are glossy while the cream underneath is so fluffy! Let’s eat!” She couldn’t disagree with that. Everyone at the same time takes a bite of their pieces.

“Holy crap!” Ace exclaims, loving the taste.

“So good!” Cater exclaims.

“Amazing.” Deuce says, amazed. “It’s like what you get in stores.”

“It’s sweet, but not overwhelming.” Amelia comments. Dove just nods; she is absolutely loving the taste. Although, she keeps thinking about the oyster sauce...Cater nudges Trey.

“Hey, Trey. Do the thing.” he says, excitement in his eyes. The thing?

“What “thing”?” she asks. Trey blinks before smiling, knowing exactly what the other is talking about then turns to them.

“What are your favorite foods?” he asks. It is such a random question, but it’s going to be her only answer on what they’re talking about.

“Mine’s cherry pie and hamburgers.” Ace answers first.

“My number one is canned tuna.” Grim responds. That should’ve been it, but he keeps going. “And cheese omurice and grilled meat and pudding~”

“If I had to pick...omurice, I guess.” Deuce says.

“Raspberry macron.” Amelia answers. When it got to her, she wanted to say “oyster” but it might have been weird given the little joke earlier.

“Um...grilled salmon.” Dove answers, going for her second favorite food.

“And mine is grilled lamb with diablo sauce.” Cater answers last. Trey nods.

“Alright, here we go...Doddle Suit!” He snaps his fingers. Sparkles float down to their individual Mont blancs. “Now take another bite of the tart.” he says. Curious, everyone takes another bite of the tart. She was expecting the same taste or even another flavor added, but instead, all she could taste was grilled salmon!

“This is...it’s the Mont blanc, but it tastes like cherry pie!” Ace exclaims, surprised.

“It tastes like canned tuna!” the creature exclaimed happily before taking another bite. “Ohh, now it’s cheese omurice!” Everyone seemed to be having a similar experience. Was this Trey’s unique magic?

“Isn’t it fun?” Cater chimes in, turning to Trey. “If you did this while having tea with a girl, they’d be super impressed!”

“It is. Is that your unique magic, Trey?” Amelia asks.

“Actually, it's magic that “overwrites a component”. So it's not just taste, but I can also overwrite the color or scent or anything.” Trey explains. “The overwrite only lasts a short time, so that’s why it’s like a doodle or scribble. That’s why I’ve named this magic “doodle” since it’s not permanent.”

“With your “Doodle Suit”, my dream of all-you-can-eat canned tuna isn’t just a dream.” Grim says. “It’s so much better than the magic Riddle uses to bully people.” Trey shakes his head.

“No...My magic is nothing more than child’s play when compared to Riddle’s. He’s on a different level.” he says, almost whispering it. He puts himself lower than the Dorm leader and she doesn’t know why. He looks at the clock on the wall. “...It’s getting late. Let’s go home and give Riddle the tart tomorrow.” he says. She didn’t notice before, but it was getting dark out. “Tomorrow is the Unbirthday Party. Don’t be late.” Ace turns to Dove and Amelia.

“Will you let me sleepover again?” he asks. “My cruel upperclassmen aren’t going to let me in the dorm.”

“Wow. So prickly~” Cater says, mockingly hurt.

“Well, um…” Dove trails off, looking up at Amelia. She should ask first before letting him sleepover again.

“Ace, don’t force them to spoil you too much.” Deuce comments.

“Yeah!” Grim agrees, crossing his arms. “You gotta pay to stay. Ten cans of tuna.” Ace puts his hands on his hips, pouting.

“What? Are you telling me to sleep outside?” he asks, glaring at his classmate. She doesn’t want a fight when it is so close to bedtime.

“Then, Deuce, why don’t you stay in their dorm to keep an eye on Ace?” Trey suggests. “As the vice dorm leader, I give you permission.” He could do that? Cater turns to Trey, wide-eyed.

“Trey, aren’t you spoiling the newbies? I’m jelly.” he asks before turning to the two girls. “Can I go too?” Before any of them could respond, Trey answers.

“Not allowed.” he answers simply. Cater tsks.

“Bringin’ me down.” he says, pouting. Trey shakes his head amusingly before looking to the two girls.

“I’m sorry for forcing these two on you.” he says. “We’re counting on you tomorrow.”

“Understood.” Dove says.

“Well, we better get back to the others.” Amelia says. “We’ll need to set up for our guests. Have a good night everyone.” They say their goodnights to each other before leaving the kitchen. Tomorrow was going to be this Unbirthday. She hopes everything turns out okay.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	6. A Very Merry Unbirthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day of the first Unbirthday Dove is going to!

Mirror Mirror on the wall,

Who is the most curious of them all?

**Another dream?**

_ The Queen of Hearts has found out about the red roses, and she is upset! “You went and sullied my roses!” she yells at the offenders. “Prepare yourselves!” _

_ “I beg your forgiveness, your Highness! It’s their fault!” accuses the Three of Clovers. _

_ “It wasn’t me. It was Ace!” accuses the Two of Clovers. _

_ “Was it you?” asks the Queen of Hearts, _

_ “No, it was Two!” accuses the Ace of Clovers. _

_ “Two’s doing?” asks the Queen of Hearts. _

_ “No, it was Three!” accuses the Two of Clovers. _

_ “Enough! Off with all of their heads!” she yells; the blonde girl watches helplessly as the cards are dragged away. _

**You don’t need to take someone’s head off for a simple mistake!**

**Why did no one stop the Queen?**

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Another dream–she’s never had them before, and she only knows a little bit about the Queen of Heart’s story. So, why was she getting these dreams? What do they mean?

“Dove? Dove, wake up.” a voice whispered to her. She felt someone gently nudging her shoulder. Blinking her eyes awake slowly, she noticed that the sun had come up. The first thing she sees is Deuce, up and dressed, kneeling by her side. “Today is the Unbirthday Party. It’s off with our heads if we’re late.” he says. She sits up straight, stretching her arms up and yawning.

“Good morning to you too, Deuce.” she yawns out. They were in the living room since it was still too much to clean the rooms, even with everyone helping. So they set up a couple of mattresses in the living room, and Dove, Grim, Deuce, and Ace stayed in the living room. As Ace and Grim were waking up, there was a knock on the door.

“Hmm? It sounds like someone is here.” Deuce says.

“I’ll get it.” Dove says, getting up from her mattress. It was a little messy; the mattresses were all set up in a circle, playing cards were strewn about on the ground from the night before. They didn’t go to bed right away, even though they should’ve, but it was a sleepover, and it was interesting to have one with guys. Once she got out of bed, she moved on over to the front door and opened it. It was Cater, all smiles in the morning.

“G’morning!” he greets cheerily. “Did you enjoy your sleepover? Was it an evening of pillow fights and card games?”

“Good morning, Cater.” she greets back. “Um, we played some cards last night, and that was about it.” By this time, Deuce, Grim, and Ace join her by the door.

“Grim didn’t know the rules, so we just played Old Maid.” Ace says. Grim crosses his arms.

“I couldn’t win at all.” he complains.

“You have no poker face when you pull the Joker.” Deuce points out, smiling. Dove giggled; she remembered how frustrated he was every time he lost.

"Let's go get that tart you made yesterday and apologize to Riddle." Cater says. “There was some trouble yesterday, so I’m low on manpower, and I need you to come now.”

“Manpower?” Dove questions. Does he mean other students?

“Talking to myself.” Cater says, waving it off. “Well then, let’s get going to the Unbirthday Party!”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

After quickly getting ready and saying goodbye to the others, they make their way to the Heartslabyul dorm. Ace is holding the Mont Blanc tart, beaming.

“I’m gonna get the tart to the dorm leader and apologize…” he says excitedly before a voice stops them.

“Yoo! You’re here! I’ve been waiting for me!” That voice was familiar...Looking ahead, she was surprised to see another Cater waiting for them. He was wearing his athletic clothes.

“I’m back.” says the Cater with them. “Sorry for the wait, me.” The whole group is confused.

“You never mentioned you had a twin.” she says. Cater turns back to them, grinning.

“Nope. I’m the only brother.” he answers. “This is my unique magic, "Split Card”. I can use magic to make clones of myself.” Two more Caters come out to greet them.

“Welcome back~” the Cater wearing a lab coat greets them.

“Welcome, Dove~” the Cater in the ceremony robe greets. Just how many clones can he make?

“I’ve had it rough! You guys are so late.” the Cater in the athletic clothes says before grinning. “By the way, I’m the real Cater.” Wait...so the Cater they were traveling with is also a clone?

“You’ve made so many clones, Cater.” Dove says, amazed at this ability.

“Thank you, but the more copies I make, the harder it gets, and I can’t keep it up for a long time.” he says. “Anyway, it’s off with our heads if we’re late. I don’t have enough hands, so lend me yours. I’ll take you right to Riddle once we’re done.”

“More painting roses red?” Grim whines.

“You’re  _ really _ full of yourself.” Ace comments. The upperclassman doesn’t respond; instead, he takes Dove’s hand and leads her to the labyrinth.

“Let’s get started!” he chirps. He leads them all through the labyrinth and to the bushes. With the help of the Cater clones, they paint the roses red again. While doing it this time, she started humming a tune. It was weird; she’s never hummed this before, but it seemed appropriate.

_ Painting the roses red~ _

_ We're painting the roses red~ _

_ We dare not stop, _

_ Or waste a drop, _

_ So let the paint be spread~ _

_ We're painting the roses red~ _

_ We're painting the roses red~ _

The lyrics played in her head as she hummed. Looking over after painting one rose red, she could see that Grim and Deuce were doing a lot better than last time. No roses were a different color, and none of them were on fire. It was easier than last time and, before she knew it, they were done.

“We did a lot better than yesterday!” Deuce huffs out, tired.

“You did well!” Cater exclaims happily. He checks his time on his phone. “Oops! It’s almost time! Well done, me's!”

“Aye aye, sir!” the other clones exclaim before they disappear. Once it is finished, Cater leads them out of the rose garden to another garden area. It wasn’t that far, but Dove couldn’t help but look on in awe. Once they got to the entrance

“Oh my…” she sighs. The garden they were in was decorated with chairs and tables in a mixture of organized chaos: white table cloths covered every table, and there were tea sets organized for every person attending, but every chair was different from one another, and the decorations were similar but different (hats, candles, sweets, etc.). There were red roses everywhere, with flamingos in the background (blue and pink feathers?).  Curiouser and curiouser.. . There were already plenty of students waiting outside, a long red carpet leading from the dorm house's door to the garden. Suddenly, the sound of horns followed by a drum. A student comes out of the dorm.

“Announcing our great leader! The Crimson Ruler! Dorm Leader Riddle!” he announces before moving forward. The rest of the students stand up straighter.

“Dorm Leader Riddle! Hip hip hooray!” they cheer. As they cheer, she sees two people walking down towards the tea garden. There was Trey, wearing a black and white suit with red and gold accents on his jacket. He is also wearing a black and white checker print fedora on his head. Next to him was Riddle, and he looked extravagant; he had on the same colors, but he had on long black gloves, his jacket’s hem was puffed out, thigh-high black and red-heeled boots, and a long black and red cape that trailed along the ground. He had on a small golden crown. He looked amazing, even though he still had that cold expression on his face. As he enters the garden, he looks around the setup.

“Hmm. The roses are red, and the tablecloths are white. A perfect Unbirthday Party.” He turns to Trey. “You made sure there is a mouse asleep in the teapot, correct?”

“Of course,” he answers. “The jam to put its nose at the right time is also ready.”

“Wonderful.” Riddle says, nodding.

“Look at their outfits! They look so cool!” Grim whispers excitedly, Cater giggles.

“The Heartslabyul dorm attire is very cool!” he says. “The style is on point and makes for great Magicam material! Which means it's time for me to change.” With a flick of his magic pen, his clothes change into the same suits as everyone else at the party. Magic can change your clothes? Curious. “Laws of the Queen of Hearts also state we have to dress formally on party days. As a special service, I’ll get you coordinated as well.” With another flick of his pen, they have changed from their regular uniforms to Heartslabyul suits. Even Grim’s bow was changed to a black, red, and white one. They all are impressed by their outfit change.

“Ohh~” Deuce checks out his jacket.

“Ohh! I’m hot stuff!” Ace exclaims, impressed by his outfit.

“Nya~ I look good!” Grim exclaims, pawing at his new bow.

“You all look amazing,” Dove says, smiling.

“You look pretty cute yourself, Dove.” Cater compliments, making her blush a little. “Don’t forget to give Riddle the mont blanc. Let’s go party!” They follow Cater inside the tea garden. They sit down at a table, a few tables away from where Riddle is sitting. Even though she’s not even the one who has to give the tart, she was nervous. She’s still going to keep her smile on, but she couldn’t help the anxiousness that was building in her. It has to work; they had help from the seniors, knowing what the Dorm Leader likes. There were going to be no mistakes. She hears a ding coming from Riddle before he stands up.

“Before the croquet match, a toast. You all have your teacups?” Everyone lifts their teacups. “Today is nobody’s birthday, so to this Unbirthday Party: Cheers!”

“Cheers!” They all say before drinking their tea. It was just sweet tea, the most normal thing about this entire event, honestly. Cater lightly nudges Ace on the arm.

“Ace, now’s your chance.” Cater whispers to him. He nods before getting up. Dove gives him a thumbs up, mouthing “Good luck” to him. He smiles back before exhaling.

“Alright…” he whispers before making his way to Riddle. “Excuse me, Dorm leader.” The Dorm Leader gives him a once over.

“You are...Ah, the freshman tart thief.” he says blatantly.

“Umm, I would like to apologize for eating the tart before. So, I baked a new one.” Ace says, putting on his best smile. It’s going good…

“Hmm? I’m curious: what kind of tart?” the Dorm leader asks.

“Thank you for asking!” Ace says, showing him the tart. “It is Mont Blanc, stuffed to the brim with fresh chestnuts!” However, instead of looking pleased, Riddle looks insulted.

“A Mont Blanc?! I can’t believe this!” he exclaims, confusing her. What? “Laws of the Queen of Hearts, Number Five-hundred and sixty-two: “One must never bring a Mont Blanc to an Unbirthday Party.” You’ve violated an imperative rule! How could you do something like this?! The Unbirthday Party is utterly ruined!”

“N-no. Five hundred and sixty-two?” Deuce mutters.

“Just how many rules are there?” she says. On top of that, he’s memorized all of them? Riddle looks directly at her, making her jump.

“There are eight hundred and ten,” he answers, crossing his arms. “I have every single one memorized. I am the dorm leader, after all.” She knew something was going to happen, but she hoped it wouldn’t.

“Oh no, we’re so screwed…” she hears Cater mutter. She sees him lean to Trey, who is looking just as shocked. “Trey, did you know?” He shakes his head.

“I’ve only committed three hundred and fifty to memory,” he says. “We’ve let our guards down. To think there are rules about the kind of tart…”

“As the dorm leader of Heartslabyul, out of respect for the strictness of the Queen of Hearts, I can’t close my eyes to this matter.” Riddle says before smacking the Mont Blanc out of Ace’s hands onto the ground, ruining the dessert. “Dispose of this Mont Blanc immediately and throw these rule-breakers out!” Was he serious? How absurd! Ace seems to have finally had enough.

“Wait just a moment!” Ace yells. “You have dumbass rules like that?”

“Yeah! I’ll eat it if you’re gonna toss it!” Grim yells.

“Not now, Grim.” Dove says quietly. Trey stands up.

“My deepest apologies, Dorm Leader. I was the one who said we should make the Mont Blanc.” he says. Cater stands up next.

“Yeah, yeah. I didn’t think there would be a rule for something like that.” Cater says.

“Making it isn’t the problem here. The fact that you brought it here today is the problem!” Riddle says. What kind of logic was that? After they worked so hard on it, getting everything ready for this day, he didn’t even try to tell them anything beforehand…

“Anyone who follows that rule is an idiot.” It was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a silent murmur, and everyone heard her, including Riddle.

“Idiot...you say?” he says, crossing his arms and staring daggers at her. Cater looks freaked out.

“That word is taboo.” he tells her before turning to Riddle. “And Riddle. These are freshmen that are still learning the ropes.” However, Ace was not having it.

“No, I’m gonna say it. Anyone who obeys that rule and tosses the tart is an idiot. Stop screwing around.” he says defiantly. Deuce stands up.

“I agree with Ace,” he says. “I agree that rules are meant to be followed, but this is too arbitrary.”

“You’ve got quite the nerve, talking back to me.” Riddle says calmly, although it still makes her uneasy. “Listen well; even breaking insignificant rules can lead to huge problems.”

“The other residents are afraid of getting their magic sealed, so they don’t speak up, but I’m sure they feel the same.” Ace points out. Riddle turns to the other students.

“Hm? Is that so?” he asks the other students. However, she can feel the fear in all of them.

“Not all, Dorm Leader!” one of them shouts.

“Everything is based on your judgment!” yells another. They were scared to talk back to the dorm leader, not even a single complaint. Was he so blind to the fact that this isn’t a good sign? Riddle hums before turning back to them.

“In the year that I’ve been dorm leader, there hasn’t been a single student held back or expelled from Heartslabyul dorm. Only Heartslabyul can say that. In this dorm, I am the one with the highest marks and the strongest. That makes me the one who is right! So all you have to do is follow my rules without talking back!” That...doesn’t make it any better. Even if he was, that’s no way to rule: there is no such thing as being right all the time. “I’m not cutting off your heads because I want to. You keep breaking the rules and leave me no choice. If you won’t obey me, then it’s off with your heads!”

“Now, everyone,” Cater says quietly. “Just say “Yes, Dorm Leader”.” This was insane. If he really didn’t want to do this, then he shouldn’t be doing this. No one is forcing him to follow these rules except himself. Not only that, but they expect them to apologize for things that they were not guilty of?

“...I can’t do that.” Deuce says.

“...I won’t apologize.” she says softly.

“I won’t apologize to you, selfish tyrant.” Ace says. She sees Riddle tense up.

“What did you say?” he says stiffly.

“We’re saying you’re a hot-headed tyrant that wastes food for his own selfish whims!” Grim exclaims.

“Whoa! We didn’t say that!” Deuce corrects, but the damage is already done. Riddle goes from a calm angry to ballistic, eyes widening.

“OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!” Riddle yells. Next thing she knew, both Grim and Deuce have the collars on.

“It’s the damn collar again!” Grim exclaims, distraught. Deuce tries to take off the collar, but fails.

“Crap! It won’t come off!” Deuce exclaims. Damn it, it was all going downhill…

“Trey, Cater! Throw them out!” Riddle yells. Dove looks at them. Surely, there was no way that they were just going to let this happen. But one look at their downcast faces told her everything.

“...Yes, Dorm Leader.” they said in unison. Both of them get up from their chairs.

“What?” Deuce says, confused.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t go against the Dorm leader.” Cater says, regret on his face.

“...I’m sorry.” Trey says simply. They were really not going to say anything; they were just going to follow his orders. This was so confusing, so frustrating, she wants to cry but refuses to. If they had to leave, she’s rather they go then deal with anymore of this.

“That so? Come at me!” Ace yells. She can’t let that happen. She gets up and runs over to Ace, grabbing his arm. “Wha-” He turns to her, about to yell when he stops. He must see the desperation in her eyes because he just follows along. “...Damn it.” he curses. Her gang follow Trey and Cater out of the tea garden, leaving behind the only thing that could help them now.

Once out of the tea garden, they turn to Cater and Trey. “Well then, Ace and co. See you later~” Cater says, trying to be cheerful in this situation.

“We’ll work on pacifying Riddle so you guys can apologize and come back to the dorm.” Trey explains. After everything that just happened, they still want them to apologize?

“Shit!” Ace curses. “I’m never apologizing!” He storms away from them, Deuce and Grim following them. Dove feels like she should say something, but can only give them a sympathetic look before running after the others. She didn’t miss the looks on the two senior’s faces either: We’re sorry.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

They didn’t get very far, only going into the rose garden they were in earlier. Everyone at Heartslabyul was busy with the Unbirthday Party, so no one could yell at them to leave. Ace is pacing around the rose garden, still fuming. Deuce was standing with his arms crossed while Dove sat on the ground, Grim sitting in her lap.

“I’m so pissed!” he exclaims, kicking up grass from the ground. “Screw that tiny, red tyrant! Does he think he’s the Queen of Hearts or something?”

“I disobeyed the dorm leader and got kicked out…” Deuce muttered to himself, shaking his head. “I’m even further from being an honor student.”

“Guh, this collar is heavy and it hurts…” Grim complained. Everyone was feeling down; it was supposed to be better, not worse. What were they going to do?

“Ny’all look so stylish with your meowtching collars~” a voice chimed. It was a new voice. Turning to see who said that, the question died in her throat. The voice belonged to another boy with purple and white hair and cat ears on top of his head, earrings and yellow eyes. However, it was just the head and it was floating! She screams, along with the others once they take notice.

“A floating head?!” Grim exclaims. A few seconds later, his body appears attached to his head.

“Oops. I fur-got to bring out my body.” he says, grinning. Now that she could see him, he was wearing a long white cardigan that draped off his shoulders and a purple striped shirt underneath. Why does everyone here like to introduce themselves in the most off-putting way possible?

“Who are you?” she asks the new stranger.

“I’m Alchemi Alchemevich Pinka. I’m a great enigma with magic that’s both like a purrson and like a cat.” he says, smiling. Although it was interesting that someone could master magic like that, his name was spinning in her head.

“Alche...Alchemi...Come again?” Ace asks, floored by his name as well. He giggles.

“Everyone calls me Che’nya.” he says. “At the very least...I’m on a different level than those guys in there.”

“Hmm...another curious student.” she murmurs. Che’nya grins at her.

“Curious, hm?” he says, his ears flicking. “I guess everyone is pretty curious compared to you.” Dove blinks in confusion. What does he mean by that? Ace huffs.

“I’m in a bad mood thanks to the absurd situation caused by that tyrant.” he says before walking past him. “Outta my way.” Dove, Deuce and Grim are about to follow him when Che’nya turns to them, his head cocked to the side curiously.

“Riddle, a tyrant…” He chuckles. “Well, mew’re not incorrect. He’s been a serious one since he was little.” He chuckles again. Everyone turns around and looks at him, confused.

“Do you know something?” Deuce asks. Che’nya puts his hands behind his head.

“If you think I know, then I know. If you think I don’t know, then I don’t.” he says.

“Which is it?” Grim asks, slightly annoyed. Che’nya grins widely.

“What’s this? Do you wanna know all about Riddle?” the newcomer asks.

“Yeah, I do!” Ace answers, crossing his arms. “What kind of upbringing turns you into that kind of tyrant?” Che’nya giggles.

“You should ask your glasses fur-end all about it.” he answers. Glasses…

“Do you mean Trey Clover?” Dove asks him.

“He’s known Riddle since he was a wee little thing.” Che’nya answers. “If mew wanna know about Riddle, he’s the one to talk to.”

“They were childhood friends? It didn’t seem that way at all…” Deuce comments. If she thought about his behavior before, it would make sense why he’s letting Riddle get away with so much.

“If mew think so, then it must be so.” He grins wide again. “So there’s nothing for mew to talk to me about meow, is there? See mew.” His body then disappears, leaving his body visible. He begins humming, his heading bouncing back and forth before disappearing as well. However, she could still hear him humming after he is gone, hearing it slowly fade away. How creepy.

“He had a weird cat-itude…” Grim yelps, catching his own pun. “I’m talking like him!”

“If we keep these collars on, we’re not going to be taking part in class.” Deuce says, moving on. If this Che’nya person is correct, they need to talk to Trey. “Let’s go see what Clover has to say and-” Ace cuts him off.

“I will not apologize to get this off, so don’t even say it!” Ace says, still grumpy from before. He’s very stubborn...Dove thinks for a moment: if they can’t go back to the dorm, then where else..? The book he had from the kitchen…

“I think I know where we can confront him.” she speaks up, making them look over at her.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	7. The Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group confronts Trey in the library and the senior tells them why Riddle is the way he is.

It took a bit of time, but they finally did see Trey come in the library. Her hunch was right; he seems to be returning the book he had before. From his body language, he looks troubled. It was probably because of everything happening at the dorm.

“Mr. Clover.” Deuce calls out silently, since they’re in the library. Trey hums and looks over to them, surprise on his face when he recognizes them.

“It’s you guys…” he says, crossing his arms.

“We figured you’d come to the library to return the cookbook for the Mont Blanc and camped out here.” Deuce explains.

“We really can’t agree with the way Riddle is doing things.” Ace chimes in. Trey is silent for a moment before sighing.

“I bet.” he says quietly.

“What do you really think about him?” Ace questions. “Since you were kids, have you always been so subservient to him?” That takes Trey off guard, looking at them in surprise.

“Who did you hear that from?” Trey questions them.

“Someone named Che’nya.” Dove answers.

“Che’nya…” Realization comes over his face with his brows furrowing in annoyance. “Oh, that guy.”

“Aren’t you also older than Riddle?” Grim asks. “Just get angry at him.”

“I’d do it if I felt it necessary. But...I can’t bring myself to scold him.” Trey says.

“Why?!” Ace asks, confused.

“Everything Riddle is was “made” by following strict rules.” Trey says. “In his homeland, there isn’t a single person who hasn’t heard of his parents. As Healers, they're that famous. His mother is especially exceptional and she wanted Riddle to be exceptional as well. So from dawn till dusk, his every move was decided for him, down to the smallest thing, as part of his study program. From what he ate, what he wore, what he consumed, to his friends, everything was decided for him. Nevertheless, Riddle never said a word and strived to meet those expectations and completed his unique magic at ten years old. On top of that, he has maintained his spot at the top since elementary school. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that must have been.” Everyone was silent. Was it his parent’s fault that he was like this? She knows about strict parents and it never ends well.

“That’s terrible…” she whispers to herself before Trey continues.

“Riddle thinks being bound by strict rules is for one’s own benefit. He was bound by harsh rules and still became a leader, so he believes it works for anyone. Anyone can become like him and that means breaking the rules is utterly unacceptable. I mean…” Trey trails off.

“If he gives rule violation any sort of positive reaction, it means going against the way he was made...you mean.” Ace clarifies. Trey is silent before continuing on.

“...I understand why you think he’s a tyrant and that his way of doing things is incorrect, but for me...I can’t bring myself to scold him.” She could feel the room in a depressing state already. They wanted answers, sure, but they weren’t expecting how bad it really was. How serious he was with the rules, to the point of memorizing them, made sense now to her. She felt...bad for Riddle.

“...After hearing all of this, I finally understand.” Ace says before putting his hands on his hips. “The way Riddle is now...is your fault.” Everyone is shocked by what he says, even Trey. “Riddle had no say in who his parents were, but you’ve at least thought that they were wrong for a while, right?”

“That’s…” Trey starts, but Ace continues.

“If you think Riddle is making the same mistakes his parents did, say so. Put him on the right track. What have you accomplished by feeling sorry for poor Riddle and indulging him? You’re just going to watch while he becomes hated and isolated from everyone?” Trey doesn’t say anything, but he is clearly frustrated. He’s being called out and he’s not going to defend himself?

“H-Hey...Ace.” Deuce tries to stop it, but Ace keeps going with his voice going slightly louder.

“Or what? Are you keeping quiet ‘cause you’re afraid of losing your head? So lame! You’re not childhood friends. You can’t even call yourself his friend!” Ace’s words were harsh, but...is it true? What are friends for if not to help you better yourself?

“EXCUSE ME! ALL OF YOU! BE QUIET IN THE LIBRARY!” A voice yells at them, revealing themselves to be the Headmaster himself. He comes up to them, hands on his hips and mad.

“You’re the loudest one here.” Grim grumbles. Crowley blinks before clearing his throat.

“Oops. Apologies.” he apologizes before lowering his voice. “My goodness, the library is for quiet study or reading.”

“I’m so sorry.” Dove apologizes, bowing her head.

“I’m glad you understand,” he says. “By the way, what are you all doing here with such grim faces?” She looks at the others. Should they even tell him what’s going on? Maybe not everything just now, but the problem that three magic users have collars that hinder their magic could be a school problem.

“Well…”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	8. An Unlikely Solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After hearing what has happened, Crowley gives the group a solution to their problem, which makes Dove second guess her place in all of this...

Crowley nods after she finishes up the story on what is going on.

“I see, that’s the situation…” the headmaster grumbles. “You’re against apologizing to get the collar removed, but you don’t feel that you can persuade Riddle to let this go without a fuss.”

“Yeah, that’s about right.” Ace confirms.

“So then, if you don’t think you can compromise with the dorm leader you have the option of transferring dormitories.” Crowley suggests. “However, your dormitory was chosen for you after the Dark Mirror saw the quality of your soul, so there are quite a number of troublesome procedures and rituals that are required.”

“Transfer, huh? That makes me feel like I’m running away so no thanks.” Ace says. This is the same guy who wanted to transfer before, but that was before everything. Crowley hums before speaking again.

“How do you feel about applying for a decisive match with Mr. Rosehearts to take his place as dorm leader?” Crowley suggests.

“WHAT!?” They all shout in shock.

“Everyone! You’re shouting!” Crowley says in a hushed tone at them.

“Because you are saying really crazy things!” Ace whispers back.

“It is not crazy at all.” Crowley continues. “After all, that’s how Mr. Rosehearts became dorm leader.” That was mentioned by Cater before.

“Now that you mention it, how are the dorm leaders chosen at Night Raven College?” Dove asks.

“There are many ways to be nominated as a dorm leader. Being nominated by the previous dorm leader or winning a decisive match against the current one, just to name a few. A decisive match is the simplest choice.” Crowley explains.

“Isn’t using magic to settle personal squabbles prohibited?” Ace questions.

“Personal ones, yes. Going through the proper channels with the headmaster overseeing a decisive match is another matter.” Crowley corrects.

“It’s prohibited to place handicaps on your opponent before a decisive match, too.” Trey chimes in. “You would be able to get the collar removed without apologizing to Riddle, but…” He trails off again. He probably doesn’t want to go through this again.

“All students are given the right to take the role of dorm leader the moment they enter this school. What do you say, Mr. Trappola? Will you challenge Mr. Rosehearts?” Crowley asks.

“...Okay.” Ace answers. “I won’t know unless I try.”

“Count me in, too.” Deuce says. Both of them? It was already risky with one of them going in, but both of them?

“Don’t forget me!” Grim chimes in, already looking like he’s ready for battle.

“Unfortunately, students from another dorm cannot issue a challenge.” Crowley says. Grim yelps, disappointed.

“Then who exactly is gonna take my collar off?” he asks.

“I’ll order Riddle to take it off if I become dorm leader.” Ace says confidently.

“Shit. This was gonna be a chance for me to show off my skills…” Grim mumbles, but Dove was too focused on what Ace just said.

“Are you guys serious?” Trey says in disbelief, mirroring her thoughts. “Deuce, I never would have expected this from you.”

“Really?” Deuce questions. “As a man, don’t you want to aim for the top sometimes?” He punches his fist in his hand. “If we’re doing this, count me in. Make it a team-play.” Ace smirks at him.

“There is that bad-boy mode again.” he says. Deuce blinks.

“Eh? It’s normal...right?” he mumbles.

“I shall take care of the bureaucratic matters.” Crowley states. They were really going to do this...She turns to the two.

“Will you guys be alright?” she asks worriedly. Ace gives her a confident grin.

“Of course we will! You don’t have to be so worried all the time, Dove~” he says. It doesn’t exactly help her nerves go down. “Now, anyone got any bright ideas?” he asks.

“Hmm...I don’t see us beating Riddle in terms of magic.” Deuce says. “But if it's a fist fight, we got this.”

“True. He seems like a little weakling.” Grim says.

“Ooops. I forgot to mention.” Crowley chimes in. “In this decisive match, any attacks other than magic are forbidden.” That takes the others aback. Crowley laughs. “Follow the rules and enjoy your decisive match! The formalities will be taken care of tomorrow, so be mindful of the timing. I bid you adieu.” With that, Crowley turns and walks away from them. With everything going on, she didn’t even ask why the headmaster was in the library in the first place. He was probably researching how to return them home...eventually. Her friends don’t look as confident as they were before.

“A-Alright!” Ace stammers. “I’m not super confident in our magic, but...I’m sure it’ll be fine!”

“Y-Yeah!” Deuce says, though he is also not confident.

“I’ve still got this collar on me! You better go all out!” Grim exclaims.

“You guys…” She hears Trey murmur. He doesn’t look pleased at all that this is going to go down. He has no idea how much that feeling is mutual.

“We should probably head back to the dorm.” Dove speaks up. “I have to tell everyone else about this.” It’s true that she has to keep everyone up to date, but she rather leaves as soon as she can. She turns to Trey and bows. “Goodnight. See you tomorrow.” She leans back up before turning to leave the library, with Grim, Deuce and Ace following her. As they walk, she can hear Ace talking behind her.

“When I become dorm leader, I’m going to make him say “I was wrong, I’m so sorry” and I’ll stop him from paralyzing everyone with his crazy rules!”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Dove couldn’t sleep.

A few hours ago, they came back to the Ramshackle dorm and explained what happened at Heartslabyul. By this time, they had cleared another room for the boys to sleep in. They all went to bed, but even now, she couldn’t go to sleep. She’s been in her bed, tossing and turning, until she finally gets out of bed and leaves her room. Her feet carry her downstairs, out the front door, and sitting on the front steps of the dorm. She pulls her knees up to her chest, crossing her arms on top of her knees and burying her face in her arms. The night air was chilly, the stars sparkling in the sky.

There was a lot on her mind. The decisive match that was going to happen tomorrow had her worried the most; what if they don’t win? Nothing was going to change, no one was going to say anything, and she was going to be no help. It was hard enough as it was being somewhere new and different, but not being able to participate even if she had magic. None of this really had anything to do with her, if she looked in a broader sense, but she couldn’t help herself for thinking that this was her fault as well. Maybe this was all a cruel dream and she will wake up soon, back in her home and living her normal life. She can feel frustrated tears stinging the corners of her eyes. What to do, what to do…

“Dove?" a voice sounds behind her. She quickly dries up her eyes with her sleeve before turning her head to see Stell in the doorway.

“Oh. Hi, Stell.” she says, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. However, judging by the look of concern on the other's face, she wasn’t buying it. Stell walks over and sits next to her as Dove rests her chin on her arms. “I thought you went to bed.” she says.

“I couldn’t sleep. I suppose I have a lot on my mind.” she answers, looking over at the other girl. “I noticed the door was open, so I decided to see why and here you are. Do you want to talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to really talk about.” Dove says. “Tomorrow, Ace and Deuce are going against Riddle and hopefully win. It’s pretty straightforward.”

“Yet, you don’t sound so confident.” Stell says. Dove doesn’t say anything, looking forward but lost in her own mind. Everything was going to be fine, but she had her doubts that had nothing to do with them. Yet, here she is as someone is waiting for her to say something. If she told her everything is fine and she doesn’t want to talk about it, the other girl would probably leave it at that. But…

“...I’ve been blaming myself.” she whispers, almost afraid to say it too loud. Stell leans forward a bit.

“Blaming yourself?” Dove nods. “But why? What happened at Heartslabyul wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m not talking about just today. Ever since the whole chandelier incident, I’ve been blaming myself.” Dove says quietly. There is a second of silence, a sign for Dove to continue. “I guess it’s just how I was raised. Back home, I used to daydream a lot. Be in a world of my own, you know? It was fun, but it was distracting me from my normal duties. Schoolwork, socializing with others...nothing compared to the world I made up. It was affecting my life; kids gave me the nickname “Daydream Dove” because of it. It never bothered me and I never wanted to change. My mom actually encouraged me; she was a daydreamer when she was younger, so she wanted me to live my childhood as creatively as possible. My dad...well, he wanted me to stop daydreaming and focus on becoming a proper lady.”

“It was normal in my town. He hired tutors to teach me how to be proper, giving good advice and all that. However, I wasn’t the best at paying attention to such dull conversation. I was...difficult at the time, so I went through many tutors like clockwork. No more tutors, more time to do what I want. One night, I was playing in the halls when I happened to be outside of my father’s study. Both of my parents were in there and they were arguing about me.” The words from their argument still ring in her head.

_ She’s a child! She should have her imagination! _

_ If she doesn’t learn that those things don’t exist, she will never be a proper lady! _

“They never knew I was listening in, but that didn’t stop my own thoughts. I was ten, maybe eleven, but I felt bad. I wanted to be as perfect and proper as I could, doing everything I could so they wouldn’t feel that way ever again. Over time, if there is something that I even had a hand in helping go wrong, I would do everything I could to fix it.” She looks over to Stell, who looks sympathetic. “I’ve...never shared this with anyone else before. I was always afraid that if I told anyone, they wouldn’t want someone who is so...weak.”

“You aren’t weak at all, Dove.” Stell puts her hand on Dove’s back and softly rubs in comfort. “I understand that you want to help everyone without incidents, but not everything is going to be perfect. Everything that happened within the past few days were unfortunate, but you are not to be blamed for anything. You shouldn’t feel that way; you have an honest heart. I saw it when we were at the mines and I can see it now. You’re carrying the burden of others when you are only trying to help.”

“I feel like my help doesn’t affect anything.” the young girl admits. Stell shakes her head.

“That’s not true at all.” she goes on. “You went with Ace to the dorm to apologize, you helped make the tart, and supported them during the Unbirthday Party. You are more important in those situations the way you are.” Stell gives her a comforting smile. “We are all different; some of us are more brave while others are more passionate. It is hard and it does feel like everyone’s expectation of you is based on how perfect you are, but blaming yourself won’t help either. They might not say it, but they really do appreciate your help.”

“...You really think so?” the younger girl asks. Stell nods.

“Do you honestly think they would come here multiple times if they didn’t?” Dove doesn’t answer, just looking ahead at the front yard. She does have a point; even with everything that has happened, they seemed to want her around. They never blamed her for the things that went wrong and listened to her when she talked to them. Even with the teasing from time to time, there was no ill-intent in it.

“...I-I think I understand now.” she finally speaks up, after what seemed like minutes after Stell spoke. She looks at the other girl, now smiling. “It’s been stressful, but I haven’t been completely alone. Instead of focusing on everything I’m doing wrong, I can focus on being there for my friends.” Stell mirrors her smile. She noticed this when they first woke up, but it was more apparent here: Stell had this aura that is trustworthy, calming even. “Thank you, Stell.” she says.

“You’re welcome.” Dove shifts a bit, a little embarrassed.

“Is it okay if..?” She gestures with her hands, but Stell’s smile doesn’t waver.

“Of course.” Dove immediately hugs the older girl, head buried in her shoulder. She felt the other girl wrap her arms around her as well. It was so comforting to have someone to count on, especially when things seemed to be going downhill. It was something that she didn’t know that she needed, but it felt nice...Is this what it feels like to have real friends? When they pulled apart from the hug, she wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Feeling better?” Stell asked. Dove nods, still smiling. “That’s good. If you need to talk anytime, just let me know. Now, let’s go back inside and get some sleep; you have a big day tomorrow.”

“Yep.” Both girls get up and walk back inside the dorm. They walk up the stairs and go to their rooms. “Good night.” she whispers to Stell. The older girl waves before disappearing into her room and closing the door. Before she went to her room, she snuck up to one of the rooms and peeked inside. Ace, Deuce and Grim were asleep, crowded on the single bed; Ace on the right side holding onto a pillow, Deuce curled up on the left side with Grim lying on his back on the end of the bed, snoring. She smiled softly at the sight. Sneaking over, she picks up one of the blankets on the floor they used earlier to play cards and gently drapes it over the trio. Making sure the blanket covers them completely, she tip-toes back to the door, taking one more look at her sleeping friends. Even though it’s been a rough patch, they are her friends and she is going to support them no matter what. 

“Goodnight guys.” she whispers before gently closing the door behind her.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	9. Today's the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the battle to the title of Dorm Leader arrives and things take a surprising turn...

Mirror Mirror on the wall,

Who is the most curious of them all?

_**Another strange dream?** _

_ The blonde girl is on trial but won’t follow the Queen’s rules. _

_ “Your Majesty indeed! Why you’re not a Queen at all!” she yells to the Queen up high. “You’re just a pompous, bad-tempered tyrant!” _

_ “Fufufu. What did you say?” the Queen asks. A purple and white cat appears on top of the Queen’s head. _

_ “She said you’re a pompous, bad-tempered tyrant,” he says before disappearing. _

_ “What! Off with her Head!!!!” The Queen orders. Cards surround the blonde girl. _

_ “You heard what her Majesty said! Off with her head!” _

_**Why didn’t anyone stop the Queen?** _

_**Someone should’ve stopped her before it got that far...** _

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

She looked in the mirror, fixing up her bowtie. After her talk with Stell yesterday, she was feeling a lot better. She was right; she needed to be honest with herself and stop blaming herself. Supporting Deuce and Ace is going to be enough, and helping her friends is who she is. There was a knock on her door. She turns just as the door opens, Grim and Ace greeting her.

“Oh! You’re up already!” Grim says.

“Today is the day!” Ace exclaims, a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. “Let’s get going."

“Okay!” Dove exclaims, smiling. She bounces past them and out of her room, completely ignoring the slightly confused looks on their faces.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

By the time they got to the Rose Maze, it was already crowded with the students from Heartslabyul. Groups were whispering to each other, but she was going to ignore them. She goes to the front, seeing Headmaster Crowley addressing the crowd.

“The decisive match for the title of Heartslabyul Dorm Leader will begin shortly,” he states. He gestures to one side of him. “The challengers are Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade." Both of them look ready to fight. The Headmaster gestures to his other side. “Defending his title is the current Dorm Leader, Riddle Rosehearts." The Dorm leader just crosses his arms, unimpressed. “In accordance with the rules of this decisive match, please remove the magic collars." Riddle waves his wand and, in a flash, the collars are off Ace and Deuce. Both of them are relieved, feeling their necks.

“Yes! That collar is finally off!” Ace says, relieved.

“Don’t worry; you’ll have it back on soon enough,” Riddle says, smirking. “Savor the taste of freedom while you can. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard you wanted to challenge me. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” What a jerk! He’s acting like he’s already won this fight! But that doesn’t deter her friends.

“Most definitely." Ace answers confidently.

“I wouldn’t challenge you as a joke.” Deuce answers as well. Riddle hums.

“Whatever. Let us begin.” he says, unmoved. As they get into their places, she sees Cater walk to Riddle.

“Riddle, what do you want to do about afternoon tea?” the third-year asks.

“That’s a silly question. The rules state that my teatime always happens at four p.m. on the nose." Riddle answers.

“But it's already past three thirty…”

“Do you think I’ll ever be late? This ordeal will be over shortly." The confidence in his voice...he knows that he is going to win! As Cater leaves to go back to his place with the rest of them, Riddle turns to Ace and Deuce. “As you can see, I am short on time. Dealing with you one at a time is troublesome. Both of you come at me at once,"

“Fight on, Dorm Leader! Off with their heads!” the other Heartslabyul students chant behind her. It was creepy how they would do these chants. She feels Grim jump in her arms, slightly growling.

“What a smug bastard." he hisses. She pets Grim’s head, feeling the hairs pricked up.

“We made a whole plan last night. They got this.” she says. However, in the pit of her stomach, there was doubt. When they look over to her, she gives them a smile and a nod; she wasn’t going to let her doubts show when they need support more than ever. It seems to help as they smile back. Riddle turns to the Headmaster.

“Headmaster, if you will." Crowley nods before revealing a small hand mirror.

“The match begins after the hand mirror I throw hits the ground and shatters. Get ready,” He holds the mirror over his head. “Set,” All three magicians take out their pens. “Fight!” He throws the mirror on the ground, the mirror shattering on impact.

Everything went by so fast, and Dove could barely believe what she was seeing.

Riddle didn’t even break a sweat. His magic practically bounced any attack that Ace and Deuce gave him. Even though it was two against one, the Dorm leader acted like it was nothing. He uses his magic with such precision, not missing a beat in using defensive magic against them. If Ace used his wind ability, Riddle is quick to counteract it with his fire magic. Even when Deuce uses his cauldrons on him, he just bounces back and makes it disappear. It was nothing like any of the magic she has seen. Before she knew it, the battle was over, with Riddle winning by a landslide.

“OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!” Riddle yells, and the magic collars are back on Deuce and Ace, making the two boys yell.

“Ugh...shit!” Ace exclaims. “We didn't even have time to get our magic materialized!”

“To come this far and not be able to do a thing…” Deuce says.

“So fast… I didn’t even know what was happening." Dove mutters, still in disbelief.

“Strong magic comes from a strong imagination." She hears Crowley say, looking next to her to see the Headmaster with his arms crossed, calm. “The stronger your ability to accurately imagine magic, the stronger and more effective it will be. Mr. Rosehearts has polished his magic to a beautiful shine." That’s how magic works? If Riddle really worked on his magic for so long, then they never stood a chance.

“The level gap is too wide…” Grim whines. Dove looks back to the others. Riddle just hums, a satisfied smile on his face.

“It didn’t even take five seconds,” he says, “and you thought to challenge me with those skills. Aren’t you embarrassed? This just proves that rule violators are always wrong, just as mother said."

“Such nonsense!” Everyone was surprised by the outburst, even surprising Dove as she yelled it. But she couldn’t help it; even if he won, his superior attitude was rubbing her the wrong way, and she can’t be silent about it anymore. Letting Grim go, she marches into the field between her friends.

“Nonsense, you say?” Riddle questions. There’s no backing out now.

“It’s true; there are rules that people need to follow, but enforcing the smallest of details and punishing them in such an extreme way is absolutely absurd. You’re not acting like a leader; you’re being a tyrant." she continues, but his stature remains unmoved.

“Huh. Rule-breaking has consequences and, in this dorm, I am the rules.” he says. He still doesn't get it.

“You’re wrong! You don't get to decide whatever you want because they are the rules!”

“What is and isn't wrong is all for me to decide! If you can’t even follow a simple rule, just what was your education like?” Then, he smirks. “You have no magic to speak of, and, judging by your reaction, you never had any schooling beforehand. You are utterly useless and inadequate." His words pierced straight into her heart. She knew that she couldn’t believe him, with her talk with Stell last night reminding her. But that didn’t stop it from hurting her. All of her insecurities and thoughts came back to her, his words repeating in her head. Her body stiffened, and she could feel tears welling in her eyes. She quickly closed them, trying not to let them fall and show what he said affected her. However, it didn’t stop a stray tear streaking down her cheek. She could barely hold her own emotions in. Was it true that she was...useless? As her thoughts ran through her mind, she barely paid attention to what was going around her, but she was brought back to reality real soon.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” She heard Ace’s enraged yell before feeling something run past her. Then, she heard a pound and a yelp. A flurry of voices soon followed concern and confusion.

“RIDDLE!” she heard Cater and Trey yell out.

“Mr. Rosehearts!” she heard the Headmaster yell. Her eyes shot open and, even though her vision was slightly blurry from the tears, she could make out Ace standing up to Riddle. His hand was in a tight fist, and Riddle was holding his right cheek, redness peeking through his fingers. Did Ace punch his  _ own _ dorm leader? She was so stunned, even as she felt Grim and Deuce run to each side of her.

“He hit him right in the face with a beautiful right hook!” Grim exclaimed, clearly happy at the events.

“A-Ace?!” Deuce exclaims, voice shaky with confusion and fear. She couldn’t speak, stunned for a second time in a matter of minutes. None of it mattered as Ace wasn’t listening to anyone.

“I don’t care.” Ace says, glaring at his dorm leader. “About the dorm leader position, about the duel, any of it."

“...You...you hit me?” Riddle mumbles, stunned as well.

“Kids aren’t their parents' trophies, and kids’ achievements don’t determine parents' worth," Ace continues, undeterred by Riddle’s comment. “The reason you’re such a bastard isn’t your parents' fault. I finally understand that! You didn’t make a single friend to tell you off for being a tyrant in the past year. This is your  _ own _ damn fault!”

“What...are you saying?” Riddle asked, still stunned.

“Growing up under your obsessive mother must have been hell,” Ace continues, “but all you say is “mama this” and “mama that". Try thinking for yourself! You’re no “Crimson Ruler”: you’re just a baby that’s good at magic!” Riddle’s stunned look falls into an unreadable expression.

“A...baby? Me?” he slowly draws out before raising his voice, eyes widening. “You don’t know anything...you don’t know anything about me!”

“I've got no idea. There’s no way I would! Do you think I would know with that attitude? I’m not letting you off the hook." This seemed to be the final straw for Riddle.

“Enough, enough, enough! Shut up!!” he yells. “My mother was correct! That means I am correct!”

“Riddle, calm down." Turning her head, she sees that Trey and the Headmaster have moved closer to them. “The duel’s already over!” Crowley nods.

“It’s as Mr. Clover says; the challenger is disqualified for his outburst!” the Headmaster continues. “Continuing to escalate goes against school regulations!”

“The freshman is right! I can’t handle this anymore!” a voice yells from the large crowd of students. It served as the only warning before something flew in the air and hit Riddle’s head, making a splat sound. Everyone was shocked: lying on top of the dorm leader’s head was a broken egg.  _ Someone threw an egg at him!  _ This didn’t help Riddle’s mood at all. Even Ace backed up from his dorm leader.

“Who did it!?” he yells into the crowd. “Who threw this egg?!” Of course, no one answered. Who would? After a moment of silence, Riddle starts laughing. It started low but gradually grew louder. Somehow, it was more terrifying than him yelling. “You can’t handle it? I’m the one who can’t handle it anymore! No matter how many times I take off your heads, no matter how strict I become, you all keep breaking the rules! This guy, that guy, you’re all selfish idiots! Fine...have it your way. If you don’t come forward, I’ll just punish all of you! Then it’s off with all your heads! OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!” With a wave of his arm, the magic collars are put on almost every student in the crowd. As he uses his magic, something dark fills the air. She remembers feeling that way the first time they met Riddle in the cafeteria, but it wasn’t just a bad feeling anymore; it was immediate danger. The other Heartslabyul students are running away from the area as Riddle laughs.

“How’s that? None of you can touch me!” Riddle yells to the retreating crowd. “Strictly enforcing the rules does make me the most correct!”

“Stop this at once, Mr. Rosehearts!” Crowley commands the Dorm leader. “This isn’t like you at all!” As he tries to calm Riddle down, she can hear Trey and Cater talking next to her.

“Trey, this is bad." Cater says, concern laced in his voice. “If he keeps casting magic like that…” Her feelings were right; something is wrong! He groans before addressing Riddle.

“Riddle! That is enough!” But his yell is overlapped by Ace’s.

“Hey, you! Not everything is going to go the way you want! Throwing a tantrum when things don’t go your way is what makes you a baby!” Riddle’s face goes red as a rose.

“Take that back this instant! Don’t you want to run?”

“No way! Absolutely not!” Ace exclaims. This just makes Riddle angry, and he screams. The air felt thinner, a purple haze overcoming the garden...what was happening? She felt her arms being pulled, turning to see Cater.

“This is seriously bad! Everyone get outta here!” he warns. But it was already too late; the purple haze completely covers the area, blocking the sun and covering the place in its hazy mist. The rose bushes start floating upwards as well. How much magic is Riddle using and is it too much?

“Rose trees, heed my call!” Riddle chants. “To pieces with them all!” Suddenly, the rose bushes are hurled toward the group. One of the rose bushes was heading right in Ace’s direction!

“Ace!” She shrugged out of Cater’s grasp and ran to her friend, knocking him down from the hurtling shrubbery. They both landed on the ground in a hard thud, but they were safe nonetheless. She looks over to Ace as they both sit up. “Are you okay?” she asks worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m-your back!” Confused, she follows his gaze on her back. There were large rips on her jacket; during their fall, it probably grazed her. Thankfully, it only seemed to graze her coat as her shirt underneath was untouched.

“I’m okay. It’s just a jacket.” Dove assures him. Shimmering light stops their conversation. Looking up in confusion, she sees floating card suits around her, shimmering in white, blue, green, and pink.

“What is this?” she questions aloud. She hears someone running up to them and, looking over, seeing Cater, Deuce, and Grim coming up to them. Deuce kneels to help them up.

“You guys okay?” he asks.

“We’re alive, but what’s with these card suits in the air?” Ace asks.

“The rose trees have all turned into card suits.” Deuce explains. This type of magic was familiar somehow. Dove looks around until she spots Trey and Cater, the former with his magical pen out.

“Trey’s Doodle Suit." Cater says, amazed. He used his unique magic to help them. As the card suits slowly dissipate away, the magic collars sealed around her friend’s necks also disappear.

“The magic collars…” Dove says, pointing it out to them. She remembered when Trey said that his Doodle Suit could overwrite anything for a short period of time. He must have overwritten Riddle’s magic into his own.

“Riddle, stop it now!” Trey yells to Riddle. However, Riddle is still trying to use his magic.

“Off with their heads!” He yells, but all that comes out are card suits. “Why won’t anything but card suits appear!?”

“Riddle, stop this." Trey tries to calm him down. “If you go any further, you will lose everything! Look at everyone’s faces!” He points to the remaining students. They were all scared, cowering away from the Dorm leader. They were terrified of him, even more now than they were before; he wanted to harm everyone, not just seal their magic. Even then, Riddle didn’t see it.

“Huh..? You...you overwrote my magic… Does this mean your magic surpasses mine?” He questions his Vice, Trey shaking his head in response.

“That is not the case right now. Riddle, calm down so we can talk this out." Trey tries coaxing him, but Riddle only backs up.

“So, you want to tell me I’m wrong too? Even though we’ve been upholding these strict rules this whole time?” His facade breaks for a moment, looking sad and frustrated. “I’ve been enduring and enduring and enduring this whole time! I-I don’t believe you!” He wasn’t just angry anymore; his inner demons were coming out, everything held in no longer contained inside him. She could feel this dread, one that was very familiar...like at the mine when that monster came out.

“Mr. Rosehearts! You mustn’t!” Crowley yells. “If you keep using magic, your magic crystal is going to be covered in blot!” Blot?

“I am...I AM ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY CORRECT!” Riddle yells at the top of his lungs.

“RIDDLE!”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	10. In a World of My Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riddle has gone completely berserk, but it's not over.

“RIDDLE!” Trey yells out, but it was too late. His magical crystal in his staff went from red to black. Big globs of ink fall from the crystal and surround the dorm leader. It was like it was alive, consuming the dorm leader and the area around him. It only took a matter of seconds for the darkness to consume him, but it wasn’t over. As the ink slipped from him, his whole appearance changed. His skin was pale as snow with black ink etched along his skin, from his arms to his face. Over his right eye was a red flame, but it wasn’t burning him. His clothes have changed as well; instead of his dorm uniform, he wore a tattered version of the Queen of Hearts dress. A dark aura surrounds the changed Dorm leader. Instead of being freaked out by his new appearance, he starts laughing maniacally, his voice echoing like another voice joined his.

“Those foolish enough to disobey me, I have no need of them in my world,” he says, floating as the dark aura rises behind him. “I am the law in my world. I am the rules! No other response other than “Yes, Lord Riddle” is acceptable!! It’s off with the heads of any who disobey me!” He laughs again.

“Ah, look at this mess!” Crowley gasps, making them look over at him. “A student has gone into Overblot right in front of me!”

“What the hell is Overblot?!” Grim exclaimed. “That guy’s got a wicked air to him now!”

“Overblot is a state that wizards must avoid at all costs,” Crowley explains. “He’s being caught up in a storm of negative energy that has made him lose control of his emotions and magic,"

“I don’t really get it…” Grim says, confused.

“Me neither.” Deuce admits.

“Ah, crap!" Cater says, impatient. “In lamest terms: he’s fallen into a dark berserker state!” Berserker state?

“His life is in danger if he keeps using magic like this.” Trey says. His life?! He was going to lose his life if they don’t do something about this? Even with everything he’s done, no one deserves that.

“Right now, the safety of the other students is a top priority,” Crowley says. “I shall evacuate the other students. Mr. Rosehearts must be brought back to his senses before he runs out of magic. Losing his life would be terrible, but worse than that…” He trails off that thought. Why won’t he finish his sentence? He continues. “Now, I need you all to go get the other dorm heads and teachers to assist-” He’s interrupted when Ace yells out.

“EAT THIS!” he says before using his wind magic, directing it toward Riddle.

“COME FORTH, CAULDRON!” Deuce commands, a cauldron hurling towards Riddle. Grim yowls, shooting his flames as well. However, all of their attacks are swiftly taken down by the dark aura surrounding him.

“What are you fools doing?” Riddle grits out. Dove runs up and grabs their sleeves.

“What are you guys thinking?” she asks, concerned.

“He’s only in danger like this!” Grim answers.

“I won’t be able to sleep well with him like this," Deuce answers. “And-”

“He still hasn’t said, “I was wrong. I’m so sorry,” yet!” Ace finishes. Except maybe Ace’s reasoning, they were willing to stop the Overblot from overtaking Riddle…

“Alright," They turn around, seeing that Trey, Cater, and the Headmaster have joined up with them. “I can overwrite his magic with my Doodle Suit, even if it's not long. Let’s finish this!” The four of them nod in agreement. He turns to the Headmaster. “Headmaster, please work on evacuating the residents."

“Hold on just a second! All of you!” the Headmaster commands. “It’s too dangerous!”

“That’s right!” Cater agrees. “What’s gotten into you, Trey? You know you can’t beat Riddle!”

“We can’t give up because he’s strong,” Dove says, cutting into the conversation. “We all have our reasons to stop Riddle and, as someone who can’t use magic, I’m not going to back down until Riddle is cleared from this Overblot."

“Yeah, I can’t lose him. I...still have so much to tell him.” Trey says. Cater is quiet before letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Ah, shit! Understood." Cater says. “I’m really not cut out for this kind of thing!” It wasn’t a no, and that’s what matters.

“Ugh, fine!” the Headmaster finally agrees. “As soon as I finish evacuating the other students, I’ll be back! Hold on until then!” Then he runs to the other residents, making sure they evacuate. This left only Trey, Cater, Ace, Deuce, Grim, and her to stand against Riddle.

“You all have some nerve…” Riddle says. “I’ll take all your heads off at once!” The dark aura behind him becomes an actual form. It replicated the Queen of Hearts as well, but the face is…

“The ink monster?” she questioned aloud. Other than the clothes, it was the same monster. This time, it has a crown on its head and holds a rose bush in its hand. As it hovered behind him, something clicked inside her. Will it have the same weak point? Riddle waves his arm. Simultaneously, so does the monster, but the magic comes from both and heads toward them.

“Doodle Suit!” Trey commands, deflecting the magic and stopping his magic seal.

“You’re in my way, Trey!” Riddle yells. With Trey’s magic stopping the magic seal, the rest of them go for it. Everyone was using their unique magic, as well as other magic such as fire and ice. Cater’s unique magic with his clones makes all of his attacks hit harder since it's not coming from just one person. Grim focuses on using his fire blasts while Ace and Deuce use basic magic. Riddle was still no pushover; even though he can’t use all of his magic, he finds ways to combat their magic.

“This guy’s magic is endless!” Ace comments, swinging more wind magic at the leader.

“Absolutely, I am CORRECT!” Riddle screams maniacally. “If not, then what did I endure it all for…” He sounded sad and weaker near the end of his sentence. The Overblot was getting to him quickly.

“Riddle…” she hears Trey, who looks concerned and sad. He does really care for him–

“Trey, focus!” Cater snaps him out of it. “The moment you don’t, we’re done for!”

“S-Sorry!” he quickly apologizes. As they continue to fight, Dove sees that the monster is weakening; the head is cracking, the ink spilling out. At the same time, Riddle was losing focus; his attacks weren’t as focused as before. It was working... At least, she hopes so. All they have to do is hit its weak point...

_Was...I wrong..?_

Did... Did she just hear Riddle? In her head? Finally, just like last time, the weakness shines on her. “Aim for the monster’s head!” she yells to the others.

_That can’t be right..?_

They all draw their magic to the monster’s head, breaking the glass. Ink spills everywhere, dissipating from Riddle and the monster shrinking into nothing.

_M...other?_

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	11. Mother Dearest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to connect about Riddle when Dove dives down the rabbit hole...

_ "Happy eighth birthday, Riddle!” says an older woman, giving a very unfestive cake to her little boy. He looks like a little Riddle. Is this what his household was like? She controlled every portion of how much to eat, even denying him a strawberry tart. She says she cares about his daily intake more than he… She hears his voice again. _

_ **For so long, a strawberry tart was what I wanted to eat. In the cake shops around town, they’re on display in the window; tarts that look like jewels.** _

_ “To that end, I’ll give you an hour to study for your next potions lesson." his mother said, after giving him hours of lessons already. _

_ “Yes, mother." _

_ “Your mother has an errand to run, so I’ll be back in an hour." She leaves her young son in the house alone. What in the world could be more important than your own child? _

_ **My every moment was crammed to the brim with every possible discipline. Time spent learning extended until I could do it. But for me… this was “normal”.** _

_ There was knocking at the window. Young Riddle got up to check. There were two kids there. _

_ “Oh, he came!” one says. _

_ “Hey, hey. Come play with us." the other says. _

_ “Who are you?” Riddle asks. _

_ “I’m Che’nya! This is Trey. Let’s play croquet." _

_ “Eh… I can’t. Now is my self-study time. I have to keep studying." Riddle responds. No, go play with them. _

_ “Self-study means that you decide what you study. My grand-paw says playing is a kind of studying too." little Che’nya says. _

_ “Will you come down for a bit?” little Trey asks. After a moment’s hesitation, he agrees. _

_ **Playing with Trey and Che'nya was so much fun. I learned new things, played new games. They taught me so much. From that day on, I left my room during my self-study time without telling my mother.** _

_ While out on one of his playtimes, he tells them that he’s never had strawberry tarts. She watches as little Trey takes them both to a café his parents own. On a white plate was a strawberry tart. Riddle’s eyes widened at the sight, but it was his first bite that he looked so gleeful. He was enjoying his time, so much so that he- _

_ **Lost track of time.** _

_ His mother chewed him out, banning him from seeing Trey and Che’nya and taking away any free time he had. “This is what happens when you break the rules!” Being so strict, not forgiving someone for a simple mistake… _

_ **If I broke the rules, my time for fun was utterly taken away. That’s why the rules mother makes I have to follow. In this town, mother is the most respected… that makes her correct. But… tell me, Mama… why? Why does my chest hurt like this? Just on my birthday would be fine… I want to eat a bunch of tarts. I want to play outside for hours. I want to make more and more friends. Tell me, Mama, what rules should I follow… to make this pain go away?** _

**Riddle...** ****

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	12. Wake Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Riddle's Overblot.

“Riddle!”

When Dove opened her eyes, she was back at the rose garden. It was a complete mess; rose bushes are strewn everywhere and roots uprooted from the ground. The bushes were pretty much destroyed. She sees everyone gathered on the floor where Riddle fell, Trey holding him up in a sitting position. Riddle wakes up with a gasp.

“Hey, his eyes opened!” Ace says. Cater lets out a relieved sigh.

“For real, we were agonizing over whether you'd wake up or not…” Cater says. As Trey helps him straighten up, Riddle looks around at the mess he made, looking horrified and confused.

“What...did I..?” he mutters in disbelief, tears welling in his eyes. She thought back to what she saw. All of Riddle’s memories, everything that he went through… She didn’t know why she was seeing them, but she understood him now.

“I’m so glad," She turns, seeing that Headmaster Crowley has come back. “He came back to his senses." But Trey was only focused on Riddle.

“There’s no need to think about it now. Just rest." Trey comforts Riddle.

“Ugh. Of course, he goes berserk after getting a little mad if you’re coddling him all the time!” Ace complains. “The garden is a disaster, and we were in big trouble!”

“It was a crazy situation." Deuce agrees.

“Seriously. Bottling up all your stress isn’t admirable." Grim says, annoyed. Was she the only one who saw his memories? Maybe it has something to do with seeing the weakness of the Overblot monster… Riddle hasn’t said anything. He is looking down before he speaks in a soft, almost broken voice.

“I...really wanted to eat that Mont Blanc." he says, his voice shaking.

“What?” Ace questioned.

“The roses are fine being white, and the flamingos are fine being pink," Riddle continues. “I like putting honey in my tea more than sugar cubes, and I like milk tea more than lemon tea. I want to chat with everyone while we eat…”

“Riddle?” Trey says worriedly. Tears were now streaming down Riddle’s cheeks.

“I wanted to spend more time with Trey and everyone else…” He trails off before sobbing. He held so much in, wanting to act on what he thought was right and ignoring his own wants. She knows how he feels; she wanted to lean down and hug him, telling him that everything is going to be alright, and he was forgiven.

“Stop that!” Ace says in an annoyed tone. “You’re not forgiven just because you’re crying!”

“You really refuse to read the mood…” Deuce mumbles. Trey turns back to Riddle.

“I’m sorry too," he apologizes. “Even though I knew you were suffering, I pretended not to notice. So, I’m going to say it now: Riddle, your way of doing things is wrong. You have to apologize to everyone properly."

“...I’m so sorry…” he said through stifles and sobbing. “I’m so sorry!” His apology sounded so hurt; he truly was sorry.

“There is something I wanted to say to you if you apologized for everything that’s happened…” Ace took in a deep breath before he continued. “...WORDS CAN’T FIX THIS MESS! I’M NOT JUST GONNA FORGIVE YOU LIKE THAT!” Everyone turns to Ace, surprised.

“You’re going to say that right now?!” Cater exclaims, shocked.

“Why wouldn't I?!” Ace defends himself, putting his hands on his hips. “We’ve been put through the wringer and he still threw away the Mont Blanc we put all that time and effort into making. I’m not gonna let him off with a tear-filled apology."

“This guy holds a grudge worse than I do." Grim mumbles to Dove. It shouldn’t be that shocking, but maybe the time and place should be a little different. Riddle looks up at Ace.

“Then...what should I–?” Riddle asks. Ace actually thinks about it, clicking his tongue in thought.

“...My birthday isn’t for a while. So I demand we have a Revenge Unbirthday Party," Ace says. “We didn’t even get to take part in the last one and, this time, you have to make the tart. No getting help from Trey, either. Do it yourself. If you do that, then there’s nothing I won’t forgive. You got it?” Riddle sniffs before nodding.

“...Yeah, I got it." he says softly. What a strange turn of events; from somber to utterly ridiculous, she feels as if she went on a rollercoaster of emotions.

“Yes, yes. This is the beauty of compromise." Crowley says, smiling. She actually forgot the Headmaster was there. “Then the issue is settled."

“Well then,” Cater says, getting everyone on track. “We should probably get started on cleaning the garden. Our photogenic garden is in ruins… I’m so sad."

“I’ll help you out." Trey says, about to get up before Cater stops him.

“Trey, carry Riddle to the infirmary." Cater says. “He did just Overblot. He should be looked at by a nurse just to be safe."

“Mr. Diamond is right," the Headmaster agrees. “I shall escort you there." Trey is silent before nodding.

“...Alright. Thank you very much." Trey reaches down and picks up Riddle, cradling in his arms bridal style. He follows the Headmaster as they leave. Dove watches them leave; she does hope that something does come from this and hopes Riddle is alright. She hears Grim groan.

“I’m starving from using all that magic." he complains before looking on the ground. “Hm? This is…” She follows his line of sight. There, on the ground where Riddle was, is a black stone.

“Is that another black stone? The same type from the Dwarfs Mine?” she asks. Cater, Deuce and Ace join the two.

“You’re right!” Deuce agrees. “Where did it come from?” Ace looks directly at Grim, narrowing his eyes.

“Don’t eat this one.” he says. But Grim doesn’t listen, picking up the crystal.

“I’ll never forget that flavor! Don’t mind if I do!” Grim eats the gem despite their protests.

“And he ate it." Ace says, deadpan.

“Grim. That’s the kind of palette you have?” Cater asks, completely thrown off. After chewing up the magic crystal, Grim hums happily.

“It starts out with a rich sweetness, then finishes with the slightest hint of bitterness for an aromatic experience!” he explains, a big grin on his face. “This rock has its own unique flavor completely different from the last!”

“Oh, I wish you wouldn’t eat things on the ground." Dove sighs.

“Yeah. You don’t want to worry Dove here." Ace says.

“He’s already got enough on his plate as is." Deuce says. This makes Dove pause. What did they say? She looks at both of them.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“Well, you know...he gets into trouble a lot." Ace says, scratching the back of his head. Deuce clears his throat.

“You have to deal with him and school. It’s a lot to handle for anyone." he says, looking away. Why do they both look like they’ve been caught? Dove is confused before a thought comes to her. Worrying, handling things on her own… Did they listen to her conversation last night with Stell? She didn’t see them, but if they did, then they would’ve stayed inside and by the door while they were looking out at the front yard. She was embarrassed that they now know her life, but then it quickly is replaced with a realization. Did...did they worry about her? Thinking earlier, the catalyst was when Ace punched Riddle in the face and that was after Riddle insulted her. Even Deuce seemed a little upset at the time.

“...Are you saying that you care about me?” she asks, a little teasing but genuinely curious. Judging by the blushes on their cheeks and stammering their excuses, she had her answer.

“Stop saying weird things." Ace stammers. Dove giggles; they cared and were truly friends. She reaches up and ruffles their hair, making them squirm in surprise. Despite their protests, she still smiles and laughs. She stops ruffling their hair, grinning up at them. They only looked annoyed for a second before smiling back at her.

“Alright, alright!” They are interrupted by a smiling Cater. “Let’s get to work on the garden. We have a lot of work to do."

“Yes, sir!” the three of them agree. As they disperse to clean up, she hears Cater mumble something. She turns to the upperclassman.

“Did you say something?” she asks him, but he waves her off with a smile.

“No. Just talking to myself~” he says before going off to where Deuce is picking up the bushes. Odd. She could’ve sworn he said…

“Thanks, everyone."

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


	13. Finale

It has been about two weeks before Dove and Grim were invited to Heartslabyul. Ace and Deuce dragged her out before she could even say good-bye to the others or even asked if they wanted to come with her. But this was the do-over Unbirthday Party that was promised, and they were the ones there. When they got there, it was just like before: the garden decorated in controlled chaos, the students standing in formation, and the trumpets and drum.

“Our great leader! The Crimson Ruler! Announcing Dorm Head Riddle!” one of the students announced.

“Dorm Head Riddle! Hip hip hooray!” the other students chant. Riddle comes out, like before, and looks over the garden.

“Hm. The roses are red; the tables are white. A perfect Unbirthday Party," he observes. “Inside the teapot, is there a sleeping-” He stops himself before smiling. “...Actually, it’s fine without."

“You don’t have to change everything right away." Trey says. “Instead of putting jam on the mouse’s nose, try putting it on a scone. Change “It’s worthless without” to “It would be nice to have,” alright?” Riddle nods.

“Yeah, you’re right." the Dorm head agrees. She had to admit that it was nice to see him smile so genuinely. The air feels different; even though it won’t change right away, there is a sense of change. She hears Ace whine beside her.

“In the end, we had to handle getting the garden cleaned up and all the prep work." he whines.

“Calm down." Deuce says, nudging the other boy. “Dorm Head being back after a full recovery is more important."

“The garden is looking super photogenic, so I’m super satisfied." Cater says happily.

“Yeah! I’m ready to eat all this food!” Grim says, eyeing all of the food hungrily.

“Then let’s get to the-” Dove starts before she is interrupted by a voice.

“Just a moment!” Riddle yells. What was it now? “Those white roses…” Everyone follows his line of sight. On one of the rose bushes, there were a few roses that were unpainted.

Oh no.

“We missed a few?” Ace whispered, panic lacing his voice.

“Ace, Deuce, you said you painted them all." Cater whispers to them, also panicking.

“This is our fault?!” Deuce exclaims. Even Trey was freaking out.

“Riddle, th-this…” he stammered. Do they have to go through with this again? Then… Riddle giggles, taking everyone back.

“Kidding." he says, smiling. “I’m not going to punish you for one or two roses." Everyone lets out a collective sigh of relief, one that she didn’t know they were all holding.

“R-really? Riddle’s so lenient!” Cater says, happy about there being no outburst this time around.

“It’ll go faster if we work together." Riddle suggests.

“You still want to paint them?” Dove asks. The Dorm head nods.

“Don’t worry," Trey says, chuckling. “But really...yeah. You have changed, Riddle." Dove heard the softness in his voice. He was happy that Riddle had changed; although the push to get him to change was a lot to handle, she was delighted that she witnessed it.

“I can’t wait another second!” Grim exclaims. “Let’s get this painting stuff over with and party!”

“Then, everyone," Riddle announces. “Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Everyone answers.

“When was the last time you painted the roses, Riddle?” Trey asks.

“Not sure," Riddle answered honestly. “I’ve left it to the other residents since becoming Dorm head…”

“It’s fun every once in a while." Cater says. “We’ve got to manage the first years, though."

“Are you talking smack about us?” Ace accuses.

“I’ve been painting roses for days, so I’m definitely confident better at this than Riddle!” Grim says confidently. That makes Riddle chuckle.

“I’ll show you my skill." he says before swinging his magic staff up in the air—sparkling magic shot from the staff and onto the roses. Not one, but all of the white roses were painted red. It was amazing; she’s only seen them changing one rose at a time, but with Riddle’s skill in his magic, he’s changed the entire bush from white flowers to red flowers. It was truly amazing. “Okay, that does it.” he says. Everyone is awestruck. “Now, with the preparations complete, let us begin the Unbirthday Party!”

They walk back to the tables and they all sit at the main table. “How did your apology tart come along?” Ace asks as soon as they settle down.

“I-I baked it, don’t worry," Riddle stammers as he brings out the dessert. “Here. I made this strawberry tart," He places the tart on the table.

“Hmm, hmm. The shape needs a little work, but you did well coating the strawberries in nappage to bring out their shine." Trey observes. “This is great work for a first-timer."

“Ah, there it is, Trey’s dotting attitude." Ace sighs before rubbing his hands together. “Well, let’s give it a try."

“I wanna take a pic of this ultra-rare tart, so hold off on cutting it!” Cater pulls out his phone and takes a photo. “Okay!” Some things just don’t change.

“Let’s dig in." Ace says. After everyone gets a piece, they all take a bite of the tart. She could taste the strawberry and...and...wait. The tart is-

“SALTY!” Everyone yells in surprise. This also takes Riddle by surprise as well.

“What the?!” Ace exclaims. “It’s like eating the ocean! What the hell did you put in this?!”

“I followed the rules strictly when getting supplies and during baking,” Riddle says, defending himself. “There shouldn’t be anything wr-Ah!” He looks embarrassed. “Is it perhaps because I added oyster sauce?”

“Are you referring to Clover’s joke about the walrus seal of approval?” Deuce asked, coughing.

“Trey used to say that all good tarts have it, even if it’s not in the recipe as a secret ingredient.” Riddle says, crossing his arms. He didn’t catch on that it was a joke?

“But this goes beyond the secret ingredient." Cater says. “How much did you add?”

“N-no one will divulge their trade secrets, you know?” Riddle says, a light blush on his cheeks. “So I couldn’t precisely figure out how much to add…” That’s when Trey starts laughing.

“I never thought that there would be someone who took that joke seriously!” Trey laughs goodheartedly. It’s not long before Riddle joins in the laughter.

“So true… I’m so dumb." Riddle agrees, smiling as he laughs. It seemed to be contagious because everyone started to laugh.

“Haha… It’s so bad that it makes you laugh." Deuce says, chuckling.

“We just have to laugh it off." Ace agrees. This was very different from last time; no lingering darkness, but this happy, good-natured, fun tone is a lot better.

“You know… I don’t think the tart is that bad." Dove admits. Surprisingly, Cater agrees with her.

“I get you there." the older boy says. “It’s not as bad as you think." Deuce stares wide-eyed between her and Cater.

“Your palettes are just as crazy as Grim’s!” he says.

“No, no. I wouldn’t say that." Cater disagrees, waving it off.

“The tart is good because it isn’t sweet?” Trey says. Cater looks at him, confused. “Cater, you hate sweets." If that’s true, then why did Cater eat the mont blanc with them?

“Is that true?” Dove asks. Cater just looks shocked, turning to Trey wide-eyed.

“Trey, why do you know?” he asks. “I’ve never told anyone about my aversion to sweets."

“Whenever we eat cake, you bring up my “Doodle Suit” up and change the flavor.” Trey says. It actually makes sense; when they ate the mont blanc, he changed it to a very spicy flavor. “You never show it on your face, but I just had this feeling you didn’t like sweets." Cater sighs, the secret out.

“Ah… I’ve been found out? How embarrassing." Cater says. “Trey, like the stuff with Riddle, your habit of, “I noticed but didn’t say anything,” isn’t good either." Trey chuckles from the teasing.

“I’ll cook up some quiche for the next Unbirthday Party.” he promises.

“I appreciate that." Cater says, smiling. “Make it just as photogenic as cake, okay." It was nice to see everyone bonding like a true dorm. Dove was happy that she could witness this; maybe being stuck here wasn’t so bad after all. She hears some humming, but it wasn’t coming from anyone at the table. It sounded familiar… Suddenly, a figure fades in, sitting on the table. It was Che’nya!

“Trey’s sweets are always purr-fect!” he says in a sing-song voice while chewing on the sweets. Everyone is surprised at the table.

“Che’nya!” Riddle exclaims, surprised. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came here to celebrate the Unbirthday Party." the purple-haired student says. “Congrats, Riddle."

“The Unbirthday Party is a Heartslabyul tradition,” Riddle explains. “You don’t have anything to do with it."

“Neither do these guys, right?” Che’nya says, pointing out her and Grim. Actually, since he was here…

“Actually, we still don’t know what dorm you’re from.” Dove says, the curiosity bothering her.

“Che’nya isn’t even a student here, to begin with,” Trey says. “He’s from Night Raven College’s long-standing rival, Royal Sword Academy."

“Huh?!” Ace, Deuce, Dove, and Grim exclaim.

“He goes to a different school?!” Deuce asks, shocked.

“Freaking Royal Sword Academy?” Ace exclaims. So, there are other magic schools out there? She could have guessed, but she still didn’t know.

“That’s actually a cool name." Dove comments.

“Thank mew.” Che’nya responds, grinning. She hears the other students mumbling.

“Did they just say Royal Sword Academy?” one student asks.

“One of those stuck-up assholes are here?” another student says.

“What? Where! We’ll toss them out!” another says, getting up and looking around.

“Oops,” Che’nya says, shrugging. “Well, I got my tart, so it’s time for meow to go home." He disappears once again, his humming becoming distant before it’s silent again. Well…

“Ah, he got away!” one of the students says.

“Let’s go after him!” another student exclaims, and a few of them runoff.

“I get that it’s a rival school, but they are acting like they want to string his neck up." Dove points out.

“Students from Night Raven College turn hostile towards Royal Sword Academy with high probability.” Riddle explains.

“After losing for a hundred years, you can’t blame them…” Trey says. Is she losing to what? There’s so much more that Dove has to learn from this place. She feels a hand clasp her shoulder, looking up to see Cater smiling.

“No more gloomy talk!” He chirps. We’re celebrating! Let’s enjoy our Unbirthday Party today!” Everyone seems to agree. Grim is incredibly excited, jumping up in his seat.

“I’m gonna eat until I burst!” Grim exclaims happily. “Happy Unbirthday Party!” Everyone seems to agree, raising their teacups. There were no worries, no fights. This...this is a perfect party.

“Cheers!”

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾


End file.
